^%.. 


^^^^^1 


A*. 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


/ 


o 


y 


5?t 


c/ 


^t  <l° 


t<^- 


t^^ 


I/. 


.<$> 


& 


1.0 


I.I 


f  ilM  IIIM 

^"  IM    |||||Z2 
.■f    li£    12.0 


1.25  III  1.4 


1.8 


1.6 


<^ 


V} 


m 


"#/ 


/. 


''^ 


/^ 


Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  NY    (4580 

(716)  872-4503 


•f^'^BmBmBai^m 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 

1980 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  6t6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-dtre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  m^thode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiqu6s  ci-dessous. 


0 

D 
D 
D 


7 


□ 
□ 


D 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


Covers  damaged/ 
Couverture  endommagee 

Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaur^e  et/ou  pe!licul6e 

Cover  title  missing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

Coloured  maps/ 

Cartes  gdographiques  en  couleur 

Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material/ 
Reli6  avec  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  reliure  serree  peut  causer  de  Tombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  intdrieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajout^es 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  6tait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  6t6  filmdes. 


□    Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  couleur 

□    Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommag6es 

□    Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaur^es  et/ou  pellicul^es 

I — I    Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 


D 
D 


Pages  d^colorees,  tachetees  ou  piqudes 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  d^tach^es 

Showthroughy 
Transparence 

Quality  of  prir 

Qualit^  in^gale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  materii 
Comprend  du  materiel  supplementaire 


I  I  Pages  detached/ 

I  I  Showthrough/ 

I  I  Quality  of  print  varies/ 

I  I  Includes  supplementary  material/ 


Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 

Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  6t6  filmdes  d  nouveau  de  fapon  d 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


D 


Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  suppldmentaires; 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  film6  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqu^  ci-dessous. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


y 


26X 


30X 


12X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


The  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

Douglas  Library 
Queen's  University 


L'exemplaire  film6  fut  reproduit  grdce  A  la 
g6n6ro8it6  de: 

Douglas  Library 
Queen's  University 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
cf  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Les  images  suivantes  ont  dt6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettetd  de  l'exemplaire  film6,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprim6e  sont  film^s  en  commenpant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  ter.ninant  soit  par  la 
dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  film^s  en  commenpant  par  la 
premidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  —^(meaning  "CON- 
TINUED "),  or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  — ^  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbole  V  signifie  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  *o  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
filmds  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diffdrents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clichd,  il  est  filmd  d  partir 
de  Tangle  sup^rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  ^n  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  nicessa're.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  m6th  )de. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

miiiToirc 


wm 


a^5l>El^i       V 


O 


7 


tB«v 


CEOARIi 


^r^ 


MlbVONT. 


.^v.  . 


Brown  Po/nt  4  4^ 


THE  ftPECTACCES 


A 


R 


o 


Tl- 


H 


.>^-r» 


HALLI DAY'S  POINT 


z 


\ 


"X, 


/> 


^. 


\.,««k 


-V 


T) 


^oip^ 


\ 


GANANOQI 


1^    * 


»06  '• 


,..^T 


MARVIN 


euoK&r..   -   *^  "     i,,       *' 


7 


S.. 


lt<^* 


'•^'  'y^  ^  J 


^'.'v* 


.LEXr*^ 


'•A 


o: 


STONE 


HICKORY  t. 


y 


/ 


(pmi;    I 


fcf-ljjli  .  ijiio    U  rt  PTir 


-^-n^t?*^*''^ 


>R08PCC#ARK 


-^ipRW**"^ 


(*25l* 


BECKWIXHl 


UTTL£I 


NwASHIWBT^      ^.-"""l 


w 


Y 


J*!^ 


Of 


eft*' 


'^C, 
>. 


'b. 


National  fioutufary  XiCne'  ■MnaBuaMM. 


r%rou(/h and  LooaZ  St«aM«r«,  Ootted  reSflbw 

Railroads,  aoUd  rr4  iint 


iANANOQUC 


-^ 


Volstead' g  fc 


THE  ONLY  ALL-RAIL  ROUT 

THE  GREAT  HIGHWAY  AND  FATORITE  R( 

Solid  TMlnB  with  Elegant  Sleeping  Cars  leave  Niagara  FallB  daily  8.10  p  m. 
with  powerful  Bteamers  of  Kichelieu  &  Ontario  Navigaliou  Co.  for  Alexandria  ] 
■^*™Ji?^°J  *"  x^®  Rapida  of  the  River  St.  Lawrence  by  dayUght,  the  most  atl 

White  Mountains  and  Portland  Express  leaves  Niagara  Falls  daily  except  S 
connections  at  Norwood  for  Massena  Springs  ;  at  Moira  for  Paul  Smith's  and  1 
•md  famous  Crawford  Notch  to  Portland,  with  immediate  connections  for  Bar 
train  stopB  at  all  principal  resorts  in  the  White  Motmtaina. 

Sleeping  Cars  on  Night  Trains  and  Drawing-Boon"  Cars  on  Day  Trains  ^roB 
oonneotion  Is  made  by  all  trains  with  Palace  Steamer  "St.  Lawrence"  for  aU  Tl 


y 


SCALE  OF  MiLeS 


3 


"X 


<•  • 


TONE 


^      ftt*»*^**v, 


«OCf(^^ 


V 


i> 


\- 


S  JS  L 
SAT 


v/^ 


Hllili 


-tot 


^8-    ^"•-■'~« 


§ 
h 
o 


/;^^<  :•  ^^gjrjjjOUSAND  ISLAND 


WESTMINST 

PARK 


HU'OUENOI 


•- :?/ 


OOP 


BECKWIXHJ. 


•^'^n^^ 


2  UTTLE  HOUND  'r^^^JB^^o  K 


8 


FISHERS 


u 


K 


LOCAL     DISTANCES. 

1IILS8 

Cspe  ViBcent  tr>  Carlton  Island 2 

"          •'       *•  Proepect  Park  ...  13 
"  Clayton 14 


**  Round  Island 16 

"  Thousand    Island 

Park 18 

"  FlBher'8  Landing  SO 


Cape  Vincent  te  Alexandria  Bay 

'^         "       "  ElngMton 

••  "       "  Gananoqne 

Alexandria  Baj   to    Westminster 

Park 

"    "  Rockport 

Central  Park... 


Mil 


L  •TOURISTS  •IDCAi.-ROUTE- 


V  ALL-RAIL  ROUTE  TO  THE  THOUSAND  ISLANDS. 

AND  FAVORITE  ROUTE  FOR  FASHIONABLE  PLEASURE  TRATEL. 

fara  Falls  dally  8.10  p.  m.  for  Thousand  lelanda.  making  immediate  oonncctions  at  Clayton  without  tranHfcp, 
Bliou  Co.  for  Alexandria  Bay,  Montreal,  Quebec  and  the  Ilivcr  Saguonay,  pa8«ing  all  the  ThouBaud  Islands 
by  daylight,  the  moat  attractive  trip  in  the  world. 

agara  Falls  daily  except  Saturday  at  8.10  p.  m.  with  through  Sleeping  Cars  Niagara  Falls  to  Portland.making 
ra  for  Paul  Smith's  and  Adirondack  resortf,  and  running  through  the  hear'  of  the  Mountains  via  Fabyan's 
diate  connections  for  Bar  Harbor,  Old  Orchard,  Kennebunkport  and  all  Sea  Coast  resorts  of  Maine.  This 
1  tains. 

•  Cars  on  Day  Trains  from  Niagara  Falls,  Bochester,  Syracuse  and  Utica  to  Clayton  [Thousand  Islands],  wbeve 
"St.  Lawrence"  for  all  Thousand  Island  Resorts. 


SCALE  OF  MILES 


yWe»andrfaB«« 


to 


Monf 


caM^oM''^" 


^         CHIMNEY  I. 


ROCfc 


^ookq  poifrr 


/--' 


.SQUAW  I 


S>- 


pt 


fi'R 


OLIMI.    ^^»         I  nut 


©*'         IRONSIDES  I.    _..-^ 


HEMLOCK  U 


WATCH  I 


ALEXANDRIA  BAY 


-f 


00' 


86 


5»y 


^ 


.yfif- 


»<** 


AtV* 


^t 


\9 


32  Mil«» 


^ 


S. 

XILSi. 

iut  te  Alexandria  Bay ...  26 

"  Kingston 10 

"  Gananoqne 16 

Bay   to    Westminster 

•.;•;:  Roi^k^*. '///, . ,  t 

••     "  Central  Park. . .    t 


Names  of  Points  indicated  by  Figures  in  Red. 

1.  Carlton  Island 

2.  Governor's  Island Ex-Lient.-Gov.  T.  O.  Alvord. 

3.  Calumet  Island Mr.  Chas.  G  Emery,  New  York. 

4.  Rock  Island  Light-Hoofle,  head  of  AmtTican  Channel. 

►     j  Occident  and  Orient E.  R.  Washburn,  New  York. 

J  Isle  of  Pines Mrs.  E.  N.  IJobmeon,  New  York. 

8.  Frederick  Island C.  L.  Fredtrickiii,  Carthage,  N.Y. 

7.  Wellsley  House. 

(  Rev.  Goodrici,  Lafargeville,  N.  Y. 
R    WATintf  Rrftnph.«  }  Arthur  Hu^h^M,  Stone  Mills,  N.  Y. 

8.  Waving  Branches  <  pyederick  Sm  >  h.  Watertown,  N.  Y 

(  L.  8.  Ainswoi'  i,  Watertown,  N.  Y. 

4  Prof.  A.  H.  Brown,  I  arthage,  N.  Y. 
,    }  N.  D.  Fen?uson. 
'•  \  John  Norton,  •• 

(  Hon.  W.  W.  Butterl.ild,  Redwood.  N.  Y. 


9.  JollyOaks. 


Names  of  Points  indicated  by  Figures  In  Red. 

10.  Island  Royal Koy;il  E.  Deane,  New  York. 

11.  Seven  Isles Bradley  Winslow,  Watertown,  N.  Y. 

11.  Point  Vivian;    Rezot  Tozer,    J.  J.  Kinney,  Dr.  Jones, 

Geo.  Jones,  William  Cooper,  and  others.  Stone  Mills, 
New  York. 
18.  Bella  Vista  Lodge P.  J.  Bosworth,  Newport,  R.  I. 

14.  Comfort  Island A.  E.  Clark,  Chicago. 

15.  Warner  Island H.  H.  Warner,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

16 

17.  WauWinet .....C.  E.  Hill,  Chicago. 

18.  Nobby  Island H.  R.  He«th,  New  York. 

]».  Welcome  Island 8.  G.  Pope,  OfltLensbars. 

20.  Linlithgow  Islana R.  A.  Livingston,  New  York. 

•^1.  Bonnie  Castle Holland  Estate. 

22.  Isle  Imperial Mrs.  H.  Q.  Le  Conte,  Philadelphia. 

,  28.  Point  M  argnerite fi.  Anthony,  New  York. 

24.  Sport  Island Packer  Estate. 

2.5     ) 

2(j'    j-Summerland    Group. 
27.  Manhattan  Group, 


:  ctarrjr  w«.d.:;.:::;:..:..:.  { *:  i;te";°'^'if^- 


>? 


'   7 


■f  > 


() 


-^ 


O 


♦■  ''■■i.-».,>.v,  ,,,-,,  J,. 


N  -1, 


^,;i  :;c»t'nji  ...» 


V  -n 


•■• »  •  •  •■••I  • 


,,.'ir »,  ■  <r'-....       -^.  ... 

J"-' 


i     ''■  t  .1     '^--     ■■»■ 


^•ie 


''  ^     ,)■ 


IV 


^ 


3 

I 


"I  '''-ikS 


■>s.'D^n^/:i^c|4,;^f; 


^A 


^■,,.. 


.'■  >ilAij 


O  X  €;  il  '. 


•••>i 


P^Af-fif^-9 


"f;4<> 


^<).» 


/Lft^-^^ 


:.-;i/.    r    ^ 


:•!*- 


^'.;. 


^ 


^*?aJV  s^icj 


n 


•A" 


Cl 


'A-' 


"^ 


'■'rtiUBlfflnjift^. 


.J^   >.-',t!j,-'i':.^',^\*;i^ 


'iS?«3»W"!»fWW~*o:. 


.'■  »/•: 


<<%<■ 


Nash  Brothers, 


t.ESStCS. 


1000  island  Steamboat 

News  and.... 

Confectionery 
Stands.  , 


.  ^ 


■«!■-.■• 


/-> 


// 


t^ 


.DEALERS  IN... 


River  Publications, 
Magazines,  Current 
Literature  and  Souvenirs. 

iLlYTOlll,  M.  t  ani  ^l^IOH,  Op. 


,  IS.    , 


^'.fc:5»^1jt< 


^ 


^^^^^^^^ 

(ipufptt'a  InittfrHttg 

iCtbrarg 

KINGSTON,   ONTARIO 

H^Bjk«£^ 

'.i*i:>ii^f,'i.»-.' 


"!i 


THE  ROUTES 


PURSUED   BV 


:.J 


THE  EXCURSION  STEAMERS 


UPON  THE 


ST.  LAWRENCE  RIVER 


FROM 


CLAYTON  AND  GANANOQUE  TO   WESTMINSTER 
PARK  AND  ALEXANDRIA  BAY 


EDITED    BY 

J  NO.    A.    HADDOCK, 
CLAYTON,  N.  Y. 


PUBLISHED   BY 

WEED-PARSONS  PRINTING  CO., 
Albany,  N.  Y. 

Copyright,  1895.— All  rights  reserved. 


LP 

F/0S9.  i'V  US.'R, 
How  to  Reach  the  Thousand  Islands. 


»  ♦  » 


THE  only  all-rail  route  is  over  the  Rome,  Watertown  and  Og- 
densburg  Railroad,  which  connects  with  all  trains  of  the  New 
York  Central  and  Hudson  River  system,  tho  only  four-track 
railroad  in  the  United  States.  By  taking  the  Rome,  Watertown 
and  Ogdensburg  Railroad  to  Clayton  (to  which  points  solid  trains  are 
run  from  Niagara  Falls,  Suspension  Bridge,  Buffalo,  Rochester, 
Oswego,  Syracuse  and  TTtioa),  from  four  to  twelve  hours  in  time, 
and  from  ten  to  fifty  miles  in  distance,  may  be  saved  en  route  to  St. 
Lawrence  river  points,  the  White  Mountains  and  sea  coast  resorts  of 
Ma,ine  and  Canada.  These  solid  trains  carry  elegant  vestibuled 
coaches  and  Wagner  vestibuled  buffet  drawing-room  cars,  also  ves- 
tibuled cafe  smoking  and  library  cars  on  day  trains,  and  vestibuled 
sleeping  cars  on  night  trains.  They  run  direct  to  steamboat  dock  at 
Clayton,  and  make  immediate  connections  with  the  palace  steamers 
of  the  Thousand  Island  Steamboat  Companj',  known  as  the  "  White 
Squadron."  Tli's  fleet  consists  of  strong  and  safe  steamboats,  the 
largest  of  which  are  the  "St.  Lawrence,"  "Empire  State"  and 
"A?  .erica."  These  boats  make  immediate  connections  for  Round 
Island,  Thousand  Island  Park,  Alexandria  Bay,  Westminster  Park, 
and  all  resorts  among  the  Thousand  Islands.  They  are  equipped 
with  new  and  powerful  electric  searchlights  of  one-million-candle 
power,  which  dispel  the  darkness  of  night.  Ele  ;tric  light  excursions 
are  run  every  night  during  tlie  summer  season.  These  steamers  also 
make  the  Thousand  Island  Ramble,  or  Fifty  Mile  Tour  of  the  islands, 
and  an  excursion  trip  to  Kingston.  First-class  meals  are  furnished 
at  50  cents  each.  Coimection  is  also  made  at  steamboat  dock  at 
Clayton,  without  transfer,  with  powerful  steamers  of  the  Richelieu 
and  Ontario  Navigation  Company  (Royal  Mail  Line  steamers)  for 
Montreal,  Quebec,  the  River  Saguenay  and  lower  St.  Lawrence,  pass- 
ing all  the  Thousand  Islands  and  rapids  of  the  River  St.  Lawrence 
by  daylight.  The  steamboats  running  in  connection  with  the  Rome, 
Watertown  and  Ogdensburg  Railroad  are  staunch,  safe  boats,  built 
expressly  for,  and  adapted  to,  the  waters  they  navigate. 

By  taking  the  Rome,  Watertown  and  Ogdensburg  Railroad  to  Clay- 
ton the  traveler  avoids  the  unpleasant  and  monotonous  trip  over 
Lake  Ontario  with  its  inevitable  *'mal  de  mer"  when  the  lake  is 
rough,  and  also  the  liability  to  delays  anu  detentions  when  the  lake 
stsamers  haul  off  from  their  regular  trips  and  refuse  to  leave  their 


I 

I 


, 


; 


*i<f»w«,  i(»**^'«!»fi,;.:^" 


\ 


The  Rambler.  3 

moorings  at  Charlotte  or  Oswego  on  account  of  squalls  on  the  lake 
or  tempestuous  weather.  The  fast  trains  of  the  Rome,  Watertown 
and  Ogdensburg  Railroad  run  every  day,  unhindered  by  squalls  or 
stormy  weather,  and  passengers  are  always  certain  of  making 
connections. 

The  track  has  been  relaid  with  steel  rails,  the  road-bed  newly  bal- 
lasted with  gravel  and  stone,  and  the  train  service  has  been  aug- 
mented and  improved  by  the  introduction  of  new,  heavy  and 
powerful  locomotives,  especially  designed  to  haul  heavy  i)assenger 
trains  at  a  high  rate  of  speed. 

In  former  years,  before  the  construction  of  through  rail  lines  to 
the  River  St.  Lawrence,  this  business  was  compelled  to  go  via  lake 
ports;  but  the  Rome,  Watertown  and  Ogdensburg  Railroad,  realiz- 
ing the  great  dissatisfaction  occasioned  by  people  being  obliged  to 
take  the  lake  route,  extended  its  rail  line  to  Clayton,  and  established 

there  the  central  point  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River  Steamboat  System. 
( Jiayton  at  once  became  the  great  objective  jmint  for  all  travel  des- 
tined to  the  St.  Lawrence  river,  and  the  perfect  train  service,  with 
its  steamboat  connections,  maintained  by  the  Rome,  Watertown  and 
Ogdensburg  Railroad,  meets  the  exacting  requirements  of  all. 

In  a  general  w^ay  it  may  be  said  that  from  seven  to  ten  trains  ar- 
rive at  and  leave  Clayton  every  week  day,  and  two  regular  trains  on 
Sunday,  for  specific  information  of  which  the  reader  is  referred  to 
time  cards  and  folders,  which  are  liberally  distributed  and  ahvays 
obtainable  at  the  ticket  office  at  Clayton  and  on  the  steamers. 

There  are  both  daylight  and  night  expresses  from  New  York  city 
to  Clayton,  composed  of  trains  of  the  finest  cars,  both  passenger  and 
sleeping,  with  every  convenience  known  to  the  best  equipment. 

The  Celebrated  Club  Train 

makes  daily  connection  with  points  west,  by  way  of  Syracuse, 
R'^'chester,  Buffalo  and  Niagara  Falls.  This  very  reliable  and  popu- 
lar train  usually  ])egins  to  run  as  early  as  the  15th  of  June  and  con- 
tinues until  September  21st.  It  stops  only  at  Buffalo,  Rochester, 
Syracuse  and  Watertown.  Its  route  is  from  Niagara  Falls  to  Clay- 
ton without  a  break. 

By  the  admirable  all-rail  system  indicated  above,  Chicago  may  be 
reached  from  Clayton  in  twenty -three  hours  and  New  York  in  eleven 
hours.     What  more  could  be  desired  ? 

On  reaching  Clayton  for  down-the-river  points  there  is  no  delav. 
for  one  of  the  fine  steamers  of  the  White  Squadron  will  always  be 
found  right  beside  the  cars,  ready  to  depart  as  soon  as  passengers 
and  baggage  are  transferred. 

[In  this  connection  the  reader  is  referred,  for  fast  railroading,  to 
the  article  by  Mr.  H.  Walter  Webb,  third  vice-president  of  the  N.  Y. 
C.  &  H.  R.  R.  R.,  to  be  found  on  page  60.] 


try-^i.>5 


The  Rambler. 


Haddock's  River  Books. 

This  little  book  costs  you  10  cents.  It  cost  the  publisliers  7  cents 
per  copy  to  make  by  the  ten  thousand,  l'^  it  I  beg  leave  to  intro- 
duce to  your  notice  my  other  river  books,  to  wit : 

1 ,  The  Pictorial  —  containing  nearly  50  fine  half-tone  pictures  of 
river  scenery,  as  well  as  8  pages  of  fine  descriptive  matter.  Price 
50  cents. 

2.  The  Picturesque  St.  Lawrence  River  —  25G  pages,  full  of  pic- 
tures, well  bound,  price  $1.00.  I  desire  especially  to  call  your  atten- 
tion to  several  of  the  leading  articles,  although  there  is  not  a  dull 
page  in  the  whole  book  : 

"  The  Mystery  of  Maple  Island  '"  (page  102).  This  article  iden- 
fies  a  murdei'ed  body  found  upon  that  fine  island  (now  worth 
$12, 00 J),  with  the  band  of  ruffians  who  were  hired  with  Rebel  gold 
to  assassinate  President  Lincoln,  and  who  nearly  murdered  Secretary 
Seward,  in  1865.  This  article  is  full  of  history,  and  throws  light 
upon  a  very  dark  subject,  not  treated  elsewhere. 

The  Burning  of  the  Steamer  Sir  Robert  Peel  (page  133),  and 
its  associate  atrocity,  The  Patriot  War  (page  142),  i;wo  episodes 
that  will  repay  careful  perusal,  as  they  are  intensely  interesting. 

"  The  Balloon  Voyaoe  of  Haddock  and  La  Mountain  (page 
150),  who  were  lost  for  l3  days  in  the  great  Bosketong  Wilderness, 
near  the  headwaters  of  the  Gatineau,  one  of  the  important  streams 
which  reach  the  St.  Lawrence  river  from  Canada. 

"  The  xV wakening  of  Henry  Backus"  (page  160),  a  very  remark- 
able romance  brought  to  light  through  the  balloon  episode,  and 
affecting  the  fur  trader  who  befriended  the  voyageurs,  and  enabled 
them  to  depart  from  the  Hudson  Bay  Company's  post. 

"  How  the  Indians  Lr  vrned  the  Rapids  "  (page  76),  an  intensely 
interesting  article  prepared  by  Cai^)tain  Simon  G.  Johnson. 

With  many  otlier  interesting  local  historical  subjects,  all  admir- 
ably handled.  JNO.  A.  HADDOCK.  Editor, 

Clayton,  N.  Y. 


I, 


For  sale  on  all  the  Folger  boats  —  at  Clayton,  Alexandria  Bay  and 
Thousand  Island  Park,  and  at  the  Frontenac,  on  Round  Island, 
These  books  are  delightful  souvenirs  to  carry  home  with  you,  and 
will  be  highly  appreciated  by  your  friends  at  home  if  you  forward 
copies  by  mail. 


Fifty  3Iile.s  of  Gorgeous  Scenery. 

WINGING  away  from  the  Railway 
Wharf,  at  Clayton,  where  the 
great  New  York  Central  System 
discharges  its  thousands  of  eager  sight- 
seers, the  steamer  Islander,  of  the  Thou- 
sand Island  Steamboat  Company,  begins 
her  magnificent  ramble  among  the  fa- 
mous island  group.  We  touch  for  a  mo- 
ment at  the  wharf  of  Round  Island  Park,  with  its  magnificent  Hotel  Frontonac  as  a  fit  center- 
piece for  its  coastline  fringe  of  elegant  cottages.  You  will  probaV>ly  visit  the  "  Frontenac,"  and 
when  there,  if  you  desire  it,  the  clerk  will  furnish  you  with  a  list  of  cottag*^  '^wners,  so  that  it 
is  not  necessary  to  take  up  our  space  with  the  list.     "  Round  Island  Part  <ne  of  the  most 

delightful  resorts  among  the  islands,  and  will  woll  repay  an  extended  -xsic.  On  our  left  is 
*' Little  Round  Island,"  and  beyond  that  lies  Colborne's  Island,  Bluff,  Jefferson,  Maple  and 
Bobbins'  Islands 


6 


The  Rambler. 


N 


There  waa  a  tragedy  on  Maple  Island  in  1865,  a  very  mysterious 
one;  and  it  is  only  within  two  or  three  years  that  any  clue  to  the 
mystery  has  been  found,  and  even  now,  though  circumstances  seem 
to  point  out  a  reasonable  solution,  the  evidence  is  incomplete,  and  in 
all  probability  the  real  facts  in  the  case  will  never  be  brought  to 
light.  I  have  only  space  here  to  give  you  a  brief  outline  of  the  main 
facts,  referring  you  to  Major  John  A.  Haddock's  "International 
Souvenir  History  of  the  Thousand  Islands,"  where  you  will  find  full 
and  complete  — 

The  Mystery  of  Mtiple  I.slaiid. 

In  the  summer  of  1865,  in  the  early  part  of  June,  a  stranger  arrived 
at  the  hotel  at  Fisher's  Landing,  then  kept  by  John  Keech.  He  was 
from  Gananoque,  and  had  been  brought  over  in  a  skiff  by  a  well- 
known  oarsman  of  that  village,  since  deceased.  For  a  few  days  the 
stranger  contented  himself  at  the  hotel,  or  took  short  walks  into 
the  country,  going  at  one  time  as  far  as  Omar,  a  pleasant  hamlet 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  Landing,  or  else,  hiring  a  skiff,  he 
would  take  a  day  and  row  about  among  the  islands. 

Finally  he  one  day  announced  his  intention  to  have  a  cabin  built 
on  one  of  the  islands,  tlie  better  to  enable  him  to  enjoy  the  pastimes* 
of  llshing  and  hunting,  of  which  he  seemed  to  be  extremely  fond. 
Acting  on  this  idea,  he  hired  carpenters,  procured  lumber,  bought  a 
skiff  with  all  its  accessories,  and  all  the  necessary  table  furniture 
and  cooking  utensils  to  enable  him  to  "  keep  house,"  and  "  moved'* 
into  his  new  domicile,  which  was  built  by  the  side  of  a  precipice, 
and  so  hidden  by  a  tliick  undergrowth  that  it  could  not  be  seen 
from  a  passing  skiff.  He  purchased  his  supplies  from  the  farmers 
on  a  neighboring  island,  and  having  books  and  a  violin,  for  he  is 
said  to  have  been  quite  a  musician,  time  seemed  to  slip  pleasantly 
away,  though  he  admitted  no  one  to  anything  like  terms  of  familiar- 
ity, nor  invited  any  guests  to  his  cabin.  It  may  be  well  to  say,  in 
passing,  that  ho  was  a  man  seemingly  about  thirty  years  of  age, 
black  hair  and  eyes  and  black  chin  whiskers,  well  dressed,  very  un- 
communicative, dark  as  a  Spaniard,  and  very  restless.  He  had 
plenty  of  money,  and  paid  his  bills  promptly  in  English  gold.  Tlie 
summer  passed  quietly  away,  and  but  for  another  occurrence,  the 
**  Hermit,''  as  people  began  to  speak  of  him,  would  have  been  almost 
forgotten. 


'\n\jJPit 


The  Rambler. 


One  night  a  light  was  seen  on  Maple  Island,  and  the  conclusion 
was  that  the  hermit's  cabin  had  caught  fire;  but  not  thinking  of  any 
personal  danger  to  him,  no  especial  attention  was  paid  to  it.  It  was 
thought,  of  course,  that  he  would  take  his  boat  and  go  ashore  some- 
where, either  to  Clayton,  Grinnell's,  or  Fisher's  Landing;  but  as  he 
did  not  put  in  an  appearance  anywhere  the  next  morning,  a  couple 
.of  fishermen  went  ashore  on  Maple  Island,  an  J  there  they  found  his 
dead  body.  His  throat  was  cut,  and  on  his  naked  breast  there  were 
three  crosses  slashed  with  a  knife,  the  crosses  being  disposed  in  the 
form  of  a  triangle. 

For  a  week  before  this  tragedy,  several  men  who,  by  their  language 
and  appearance  were  set  down  as  Southerners,  were  quartered  at 
different  hotels  in  Clayton;  but  on  that  evening  they  had  settled 
their  bills,  and  hired  some  oarsmen  to  take  them  to  Alexandria  Bay, 
which  they  did.  It  was  learned  later  on  that  they  did  not  stay  at 
Alexandria  Bay  that  night,  but  no  one  seemed  to  know  when  they 
left,  nor  where  they  went.  These  facts  were  brought  out  on  the 
inquest  which  was  held,  but  nothing  more  was  discovered  at  that 
time.  A  brief  article  in  t  .e  Clayton  paper.  On  the  St.  Laurence, 
gave  the  above  facts  in  substance,  and  from  that  slight  clue  the 
mystery  is  well  nigh  cleared  up.  As  a  starting  point,  the  reader 
may  understand  that  the  "three  crosses,"  cut  in  the  form  of  a  tri- 
angle, were  a  well-known  sign  of  a  secret  society  which  fiourished 
during  the  war,  both  North  and  South,  commonly  known  as  the 
*' Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle;"  and  hence  it  is  fair  to  presume 
that  the  assassins  were  brother  "  Knights  "  of  the  hermit,  who  were 
fulfilling  their  oaths  by  murdering  him.  The  next  question  arose, 
why  should  they  murder  liim?    What  was  the  cause? 

To  make  this  story  short  I  will  just  say,  that  certain  parties  were 
offered  the  sum  of  $300,000  in  gold  to  assassinate  Lincoln,  Seward. 
Johnson,  Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan  and  one  or  two  other  members 
of  the  cabinet,  and  a  proportionate  sum  for  as  many  as  were  assassi- 
nated. There  was  paid  to  John  H.  Surratt,  in  the  Queen's  Hotel  in 
Toronto,  $100,000  of  this  sum  in  English  gold,  paid  to  him  by  the 
notorious  Jake  Thompson,  at  that  time  an  agent  for  the  Confederacy 
in  Canada.  There  was  with  John  H.  Surratt,  at  the  time,  John  A. 
Payne,  brother  to  the  Payne  who  was  hanged  for  the  attempted 
assassination  of  Secretary  Seward  and  his  son.  John  A.  Payne  was 
the  treasurer  of  a  secret  society  in  Washington;  Surratt  and  Payne 


8 


The  Rambler. 


K 


}?mi 


left  Toronto  the  very  night  tiie  money  was  paid  into  Surratt's  hands. 
We  all  know  what  becam  j  of  Surratt,  but  what  of  Payne  ?  All  the 
"evidences,  circumstantial  though  they  be,  point  to  the  fact  that  John 
A,  Payne  was  murdered  on  Maple  Island,  in  the  St.  Lawrence  river, 
by  his  brother  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,  because  he  failed  to 
divide  with  them  the  blood  money  received  for  the  assassination  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  I  have  no  time  nor  space  here  to  enter  into 
all  the  facts,  but  when  you  have  read  in  the  Souvenir  all  the  evi- 
dences which  have  been  uue-^rthed,  you  will  agree  with  the  above 
statement. 

We  now  steam  away  toward  "  Grinnell's  Island  "  and  the  Pullman 
House  landing.  Do  not  make  the  mistake  that  some  do,  and  imagine 
this  to  be  the  celebrated  Pullman  Cottage,  because  it  isn't ;  but  it  is 
one  of  the  very  pleasant  summer  hotels  on  the  river,  and  lately  en- 
larged one-third  in  size.  Glance  along  that  narrow  channel  away 
to  our  left.  It  leads  past  the  "  Palisades,"  a  huge  granite  preci- 
pice on  the  head  of  Wellesley  Island,  and  out  into  "  Eel  Bay,"  and 
through  it  a  steamer  plies  her  route  every  two  hours  to  Grand  View 
Park,  near  which  are  the  wonderful  pot-holes.  Down  jonder,  in  the 
very  narrowest  part  of  the  strait,  between  the  "Palisades"  and 
"Murray  Island,"  there  was  quite  a  spirited  naval  battle  fought 
once,  the  history  of  which  is  af  follows: 

Naval  Skiriiiish  on  the  St.  Lawrence. 

On  the  9th  of  August,  1813,  the  schooners  Julia  and  Growler,  be- 
coming separated  from  the  remainder  of  Commodore  Chauncey's 
fleet,  set  sail  down  the  lake,  hotly  pursued  by  several  of  the  English 
vessels.  The  Growler  succeeded  in  making  the  harbor  of  Oswego, 
and  anchored  under  the  protection  of  the  guns  of  the  fort.  The  Julia 
held  her  course  down  the  lake,  with  a  fair  wind,  and  being  a  fast 
sailer,  she  soon  outstripped  the  English  vessels,  two  of  which,  the 
Seneca  and  Simcoe,  had  been  in  close  pursuit.  The  Julia  was  in 
command  of  Mr.  Trant,  the  sailing  master,  and  was  armed  with 
one  long  33.pounder  on  a  pivot,  tw-o  long  sixes,  and  forty  men.  The 
Simcoe's  armament  consisted  of  twelve  guns  and  seventy-six  men, 
and  the  Seneca's,  four  guns  and  forty  men.  Passing  down  the  river 
until  opposite  French  creek,  Mr.  Trant  directed  his  course  across  the 
river  through  what  is  now  known  as  "  Robbins'  Cut,"  the  route  taken 
by  the  splendid  St.  Lawrence  on  her  search-light  excursions  between 


The  Rambler. 


9 


Robbins'  and  Grindstone  islands,  and  out  into  Eel  bay.  Here  he  lay- 
to  near  the  group  of  barren  rocks  known  as  "  Indian  Islands,"  just 
off  Grand  View  Park.  It  was  not  long  before  his  pursuers  appeared, 
reinforced  by  another  small  vessel,  whose  name  is  not  known.  The 
Simcoe  and  the  strange  vessel  entered  the  bay  from  the  Canadian 
channel,  while  the  Seneca  had  followed  the  Julia  directly  through 
Robbins'  cut.  For  a  few  moments  all  was  hurry  and  bustle  on  board 
the  little  schooner.  Every  sheet  that  would  draw  was  set,  and  she 
sped  away  for  the  narrow  passage  between  Wellesley  and  Hemlock 
islands,  and  taking  up  her  position  just  off  the  Palisades  where  the 
channel  begins  to  widen,  she  lowered  her  sails  and  the  crew  went  to 
quarters.  Tlie  enemy  came  gallantly  on  with  a  strong  breeze,  which 
increased  in  force  as  it  sucked  through  the  narrow  passage,  making 
it  very  difficult  to  retrace  their  way,  and  compelling  them  to  follow 
each  other,  the  narrowness  of  the  passage  preventing  them  from 
coming  alongside  of  each  other,  or  even  wearing  so  as  to  bring  their 
broadsides  to  bear.  The  commander  of  the  Julia  opened  fire  with 
his  long  33,  and  in  a  short  time  the  Simcoe,  which  was  in  advance, 
was  disabled,  and  her  consorts  were  as  rapidly  as  possible  trying  to 
retrace  their  course.  Although  completely  at  his  mercy,  the  gallant 
commander  of  the  Julia  did  not  deem  it  prudent  to  attempt  to  take 
possession  of  the  Simcoe,  because  of  her  greater  superiority  in  men, 
and,  besides,  there  was  always  the  chance  that  some  of  the  enemy's 
vessels  might  gain  his  rear ;  so,  deeming  discretion  the  better  part 
of  valor,  he  gave  the  Simcoe  a  parting  shot  or  two,  and  made  his  es- 
cape up  the  river,  joining  the  fleet  on  Lake  Ontario.  For  this  gal- 
lant action  Mr.  Trant  was  promoted  to  a  lieutenancy. 

Murray  Hill,  on  Hemlock  island,  is  our  next  stop.  This  is  one  of 
the  finest  hotels  on  the  river,  opened  in  1896. 

Many  years  ago,  where  the  Pullman  House  now  stands,  Mr.  Grin- 
nell  kept  one  of  the  old  time  "  taverns,"  the  like  of  which  is  seldom 
found  in  these  days,  and  from  time  to  time  many  distinguished  per- 
sonages became  his  guests  for  the  sake  of  the  hunting  and  fishing, 
not  even  excepting  royalty  itself,  in  the  person  of  Count  S"rveiliers, 
alias  Joseph  Bonaparte,  ex-king  of  Naples  and  of  Sps  i.  Those 
granite  rocks  up  yonder,  o'ertopped  with  a  row  of  beautiful  cottages, 
are  named  Jersey  Heights. 

Our  next  stopping  place  is  at  the  Thousand  Island  Park  land- 
ing, in  full  view  of  the  stately  Columbia  hotel,  and  of  many  of  the 


10 


The  Rambler. 


%'^i 


f^'«. 


elegant  cottages  of  this  beautiful  summer  city  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 
Here  are  all  the  modern  conveniences,  electrical  lights,  water  works, 
telegraph  and  telephone  communication,  a  steamer  for  some  point 
almost  every  hour  in  the  day,  excellent  bathing,  splendid  fishing, 
and,  in  fact,  an  ideal  summer  home.  I  need  not  enter  into  a  de- 
tailed description  here,  as  you  will  find  its  history  printed  in  full 
elsewhere.  Directly  in  front  of  the  landing  arc  the  "Lone  Tree" 
and  "Twin  "  Islands.  We  next  touch  at  the  wharf  in  front  of  the 
"  Fine  View  House'* —  one  of  the  many  pleasant  hotels  on  the  river  — 
and  only  ten  minutes  walk  to  the  Thousand  Island  Park.  On  the 
right  is  the  pleasant  little  hamlet  of  Fisher's  landing,  "  Occident " 
and  '  Orient "  islands,  and,  a  little  below  them,  Fredericks'  Islands, 
owned  by  a  merchant  of  Carthage,  N.  Y. 

Along  the  shore  of  Wellesley  Island,  on  our  left,  is  a  long  line  of 
delightful  cottages,  among  which  is  "Hiawatha,"  the  quaint  cottage 
of  Prof.  Hoose,  an  eminent  educator,  and  the  grou^)  of  cottages, 
"The  Jolly  Oaks,"  among  which  are  those  of  Mr.  J.  L.  Norton,  a 
prominent  merchant  of  Carthage,  and  Hon.  W.  W.  Eutterfield,  of 
Redwood,  N.  Y.  The  next  place  of  any  special  importance  is  "  Peel 
Dock,"  and  thereby  hangs  a  tale  ; "  and  here  it  is.* 

Burning  of  the  Steamer  "  Sir  Robert  Peel." 

Those  who  have  kept  themselves  informed  on  matters  of  h -story 
will  remember  that,  on  th"  29th  day  of  December,  1837,  the  steamer 
Caroline,  an  American  steamboat,  while  lying  tied  to  the  wharf  at 
Schlosser,  a  port  on  the  Canadian  side  of  the  Niagara  river  below 
Buffalo,  was  boarded  by  a  band  of  Canadians,  robbed,  set  fire  to,  cut 
loose  from  her  moorings,  and  sent  burning  over  Niagara  Falls.  This 
caused  great  indignation  throughout  the  country,  and  added  much 
to  the  excitement  consequent  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  so  called 
Patriot  war,  which  was,  in  fact,  a  weak  rebellion  on  the  part  of 
some  dissatisfied  Canadians,  with  which  a  number  of  United  States 
citizens  very  foolishly  took  sides.  The  steamer  Sir  Robert  Peel  was 
new  and  staunch,  built  at  Brockville  only  the  year  before,  and  owned 
by  both  Canadian  and  American  citizens.  She  was  sailed  by  Capt. 
John  B.  Armstrong.     Starting  from  Pressott  on  the  afternoon  of  the 

♦Bear  in  mind,  however,  that  until  the  occurrence  here  related  toolc  place,  this 
was  called  "  McDonnell's  Wharf,"  and  not  "  Peel  Dock," 


I 


V-,  ~*i**r . 


The  Rambler. 


11 


29th  of  May,  1838,  she  touched  at  Brockville  on  lier  vay  to  Toronto, 
having  on  board  a  cargo  and  nineteen  passengers.  She  arrived  at  Mc- 
Donnell's wharf  at  midnight  to  take  on  wood.  It  had  been  hinted 
to  the  captain  before  leaving  Brockville  that  there  vi^as  danger 
ahead,  but  he  disregarded  the  warning.  The  passengers  w^ere  asleep 
in  the  cabin,  and  the  crew  had  almost  finished  their  labor  of  taking 
on  wood,  when  a  party  of  twenty-two  men,  disguised  and  painted 
like  Indians,  and  armed  with  muskets  and  bayonets,  rushed  on 
board,  yelling  like  savages,  and  shouting,  "Remember  the  Caro- 
line!" They  drove  the  passengers  and  crew  ashore,  allowing  but 
little  time  for  the  removal  of  baggage  belonging  to  them,  the  most 
of  which  was  lost.  The  steamer  was  fired  in  several  places,  and  the 
party  left  in  two  boats,  steering  for  Abel's  Island,  about  four  miles 
away,  wliich  they  reached  at  sunrise.  The  ill-fated  steamer  sunk  in 
mid-channel  but  a  short  distance  below  the  wharf  where  she  was 
captured,  and  there  she  now  lies  twenty  fathoms  deep,  while  we 
sail  to  and  fro  directly  over  her  wreck. 

The  leader  of  this  party  was  William  Johnston,  better  known  to 
fame,  or  notoriety  rather,  as  "Bill  Johnston,"  a  Canadian  outlaw, 
around  whose  career,  and  that  of  his  daughter  Kate,  the  once 
famous  novelist,  "  Ned  Buntline"  (E.  Z.  C.  Judson),  threw  a  halo  of 
mystery  and  romance.  Bill  Johnston  was  born  at  Three  Rivers, 
Lower  Canada,  February  1,  1782.  His  parents  removed  to,  or  near, 
Kingston,  in  1784,  and  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  of  1813,  he  was 
a  grocer  in  Kingston,  and  a  member  of  a  military  company.  For 
an  act  of  insubordination,  it  is  said,  though  what  was  its  nature  is 
not  now  apparent,  he  was  tried  by  a  court  martial,  lodged  in  jail, 
and  his  property  confiscated.  Escaping  thence  he  came  to  the 
States,  and  became  the  bitterest  and  most  vindictive  foe  Canada 
ever  had.  He  acted  as  a  spy  for  the  Americans  during  the  war  of 
1812-15,  robbed  the  British  mails,  and  committed  every  depredation 
possible  upon  Canada  and  Canadians.  After  the  burning  of  the  Sir 
Robert  Peel,  he  was  outlawed  by  both  the  United  States  and  Cana- 
dian governments,  who  tried  in  every  way  possible  to  effect  his  cap- 
ture ;  but  his  hiding  places  were  so  numerous,  and  so  many  were  his 
personal  friends,  that,  with  the  aid  of  his  daughter  Kate,  vvho  kept, 
him  supplied  with  food,  which  she  took  to  him  in  the  dead  of  night 
in  her  skiff  alone,  and  with  news  of  his  enemies,  also,  that  they  suc- 
ceeded in  capturing  him  but  twice,  both  of  which  times  he  escaped  '* 


12 


THE   RAMBLER. 


K 


though  if  the  stories  told  of  his  hair-breadth  escapes,  whether  true 
or  not,  were  written  down,  they  would  till  a  book.  Finally,  when 
matters  became  quiet,  he  returned  to  his  home  in  Clayton,  and  in 
time  was  appointed  keeper  of  the  Rock  Island  light,  whose  rays 
illumine  the  very  spot  over  which  once  shone  the  light  of  the  burning 
steamer  Sir  RoV)ort  Peel. 

On  our  left,  as  we  leave  Peel  Dock,  is  a  lovely  little  wliite  cot* 
tage  on  "Island  Kato,"  now  the  summer  home  of  Mr.  Lascelle, 
of  Ijvnn,  Mass.  In  a  .short  time  we  swing  out  from  the  main 
channel  and  pass,  on  our  left,  the  miniature  "Island of  St.  Helena," 
with  its  batteries  of  Quaker  guns.  The  surface  of  the  island,  curi- 
ously enough,  is  almost  a/oc  simile  of  St.  Helena  itself;  and  so  the 
genial  owner,  H.  Stillman,  Esq.,  of  Oswego,  has  utilized  the  idea, 
and  thus  we  have  every  prominent  point  located,  even  to  the  tomb 
of  Napoleon.  If  there  were  only  a  miniature  Napoleon  on  the 
island,  with  a  miniature  Sir  Hudson  Lowe  for  his  jailer,  the  illusion 
would  be  complete.  On  our  right  is  "  St.  Lawrence  (formerly  Cent- 
ral) Park."  Here  is  a  fine  hotel,  and  a  group  of  beautiful  summer* 
homes,  owned  by  Rev.  Richmond  K.  Fisk,  Ayers,  Mass.;  C.  W. 
Hackett,  of  Utica,  N.  Y.;  Hon.  Charles  R.  Skinner,  of  Albany,  State 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction;  J.  F.  Moffet,  Hon.  B.  B.  Tag- 
gart,  W.  G.  Williams,  Judge  P.  C.  Williams,  and  C.  H.  Remington, 
all  of  Watertown,  N.  Y. 

We  touch,  for  a  moment,  at  "  Point  Vivian,"  a  collection  of  beauti- 
ful cottages  on  the  mainland,  and  then  away  for  Alexandria  Bay. 

On  our  left  is  V  Hill  Crest"  and  "  Shady  Covert,"  the  property  of 
B.  J.  Maycock,  of  Buffalo.  On  our  right  we  approach  "Wild  Rose 
Island,"  the  property  of  Hon.  W.  G.  Rose,  of  Cleveland,  0.,  which 
is  connected  with  "Gypsy,"  owned  by  J.  M.  Curtis  of  the  same  city, 
by  a  beautiful  bridge  of  a  single  span,  not  a  "bridge  of  sighs,"  but 
a  bridge  of  joys.  Opposite,  Gen.  Yan  Patten,  of  Claverack-on-the 
Hudson,  has  a  fine  location,  and  then  comes  "Seven  Isles,"  the 
beautiful  summer  home  of  Gen.  Bradley  Winslow,  of  Watertown, 
N.  Y. ;  "  Louisiana  Point,"  owned  by  the  late  Judge  Labatte,  of  New 
Orleans,  and  the  beautiiul  cottage,  known  as  "  Lambie  Point,"  owned 
by  the  Messrs.  Lambie,  of  Theresa,  N.  Y. 

We  now  approach  the  lower  channel  group,  leaving  "  Bell  Vista," 
"Nehmabin,"  "  Comfort"  and  "  Greystone  Villa"  on  our  left,  pass- 
ing "  W^auwinet,"  "  Keewaydin  "  and  "  Cuba,"  and  now  the  steamer, 


The  Ramiujor. 


13 


with  a  square  turn  to  the  left,  runs  so  close  to  the  "Devils  Oven" 
that  you  can  almost  touch  it,  and  then  heads  toward  "  Castle  Rest." 
On  the  left  it  may  be  that  the  visitor  will  again  this  season  greet 
the  •'  Red  Cross,"  the  summer  home  of  one  of  the  grandest  women 
of  the  age,  the  Florence  Nightingale  of  America,  Miss  Clara  Barton, 
of  Washington,  D.  C.     To  the  soldier,  wounded  and  dying,  she  was 


DEVILS   OVEN. 


an  angel  of  hope.  To  the  earthquake  and  tornado-stricken  people  of 
the  South,  she  was  an  angel  of  relief  ;  and  to  the  stricken,  every- 
where, whether  by  war,  famine  or  pestilence,  she  was  an  angel  of 
Mercy;  she  has  won  the  applause  of  nations  and  the  admiration  of 
the  world.  In  the  midst  of  destitution,  disease  and  death  she  has 
borne  the  sacred  emblem  to  the  relief  of  thousands,  and  no  one  has 
a  better  right  than  she  to  exclaim,  "  In  hoc  »igno  vinces  !^^  Lot  us 
rejoice  that  she  is  an  American  woman,  and,  because  of  her  grand 


I'i 


The  Rambler. 


efforts  in  the  cause  of  humanity,  accord  to  her,  that  which  she  has 
8o  nobly  won,  our  highest  admiration  and  respect. 

Then  comes  tlie  summer  camp  of  Rev.  Royal  Pullman,  and  "  Hope- 
well Hall,"  the  property  of  W.  C.  Browning,  of  New  York;  "  Castle 
Rest,"  the  minature  of  Ehrenbreitstein,  one  of  the  old  castles  on  the 
Rhine,  and  then,  in  succession,  come:  "Friendly,"  E.  W.  Dewey, 
New  York;  "  Nobby,"  H.  R.  Heath.  New  York;  "St.  Elmo,"  N.  w! 
Hunt,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. ;  "  Welcome,"  S.  G.  Pope,  Ogdensburg,  N.  Y.; 
"Felseneck,"  Prof.  Hopkins,  Hamilton  College;  •'  Linlithgow,"  Mrs. 


N 


NOBBY  ISLAND- 


Robert  Livingston,  New  York;  "  Florence,"  H.  S.  Chandler,  New 
York;  "Isle  Imperial,"  Mr.  Rafferty,  Pittsburg.  Pa.  These  are 
among  the  Central,  or  Bay  group,  and  now  we  swing  to  the  wharf  at 
Alexandria  Bay,  with  its  elegant  hotels  —  the  Metropolis  of  the 
Thousand  Islands. 

But  we  must  on  with  our  trip.  As  we  swing  out  into  the  stream 
and  head  away  on  our  course,  we  leave  "  Bonny  Castle,"  the  property 
of  Mrs.  J.  G.  Holland.  This  was  the  favorite  summer  home  of  that 
gifted  author  and  editor,  Dr.  James  G.  Holland,  whose  name  is  a 
household  word,  and  whose  fame  is  world-wide,  and  whose  death 


The  Rambler. 


15 


was  a  national  loss,  l)ecau8e  he  was  one  of  our  most  gifted  authors. 
To  the  world  of  letters  his  loss  was  irreparable.  On  our  left  is  "  Man- 
hattan," thought  by  many  to  be  the  most  beautiful  island  in  the 
river,  owned  by  Judge  J.  C.  Spencer,  of  New  York;  "St.  John's," 
Judge  rhas.  Donahue,  of  Now  York;  "  Fairyland,"  with  its  three 
beautiful  villas,  U-longing  to  the  Messrs.  Hayden,  of  Columbus,  O., 
and  "Hugnenot,"  the  summer  home  of  L.  Hasbrouck,  of  Ogdens- 
burg,  N.  Y.  Down  the  main  channel,  at  our  right,  is  "  Resort  Is- 
land," owned  by  W.  J.  Lewis,  of  Pittsbui-g,  Pa.,  and  along  the  main- 
land are :  "  Long  Branch,"  owned  by  Mrs.  Clark,  of  Watertown,  N^ 
Y. ;  "Point  Marguerite,"  the  summer  home  of  the  late  Edward 
Anthony,  of  New  York  ;  "The  Ledges,"  C.  J.  Hudson,  New  York. 


ream 

)erty 

that 

is  a 

leath 


The  Tweed  Kiiij;^. 

Close  on  our  right  is  "  Deer  Island,"  as  it  was  once  called,  now 
"Pine  Island,"  "Old  Picnic  Island"  and  "Lotus  Land."  This 
re>;ion  was  at  one  tiint*  the  summer  resoi't  of  tlie  famous  "Tweed 
Riiig,"  of  New  York,  away  back  in  1870.  That  was  when  the  now 
magnificent  Crossmon  House  was  only  a  plain  country  tavern, 
though  always  a  good  one.  Mrs.  Crossmon,  the  honored  mother  of 
the  present  genial  proprietor,  well  remembers  baking  "  Boston  brown 
bread  "  for  them,  and  many  citizens  of  Alexandria  Bay  remember 
well  the  "  high  Old  jinks  "  held  by  tiie  gang  on  their  visits  to  the 
river.  Who  was  the  gang  ?  Just  glance  at  the  list :  The  three  first, 
William  M.  Tweed,  Hank  Smith  and  William  R.  Stewart,  were  the 
"bosses."  They  concocted  the  scliemes,  and  the  others  carried  them 
into  effect.  Here  was  Foster  Dewey,  Tweed's  private  secretary; 
Andrew  J,  Garvey,  Cornelius  Carson,  Boss  Tweed's  confidential  clerk; 
Peter  B.  Sweeney  and  Dick  Cornell,  and  then  there  was  a  lot  of  sub- 
lieutenants besides.  Up  here,  they  styled  themselves  the  "  Medicus 
Club,"  and  "  bad  medicine"  they  were  too,  though  judging  from  the 
fact  that  they  doctored  New  York  city  to  the  amount  of  $37,000,000^ 
the  name  was  very  appropriate. 

We  now  bear  away  to  the  right,  leaving  "Pine  Island,"  "  Old  Pic- 
nic" and  "  Lotus  Land  "  on  our  right,  and  enter  the  "  Friendly  "  or 
"  Boundary  Group."  This  is  one  of  the  loveliest  scenes  on  the  whole 
river,  and  we  sail  through  its  very  midst  Here  are  "  Little  Lehigh," 
"Sport,"  "Idlewild,"  "Summerland"  and  "Arcadia"  islands,  on 


16 


The  Rambler. 


N 


Iv 


which  are  the  beautiful  cottages  of  Messrs.  W.  A.,  R.  H.  and  E.  P.  Wil- 
bur, all  of  Bethlehem,  Pa.;  Mrs.  R.  H.  Eggleston,  New  York;  S.  A. 
Briggs,  of  New  York,  and  a  group  of  Rochester  families.  You  will 
acknowledge  that  this  view  aloue  is  worth  taking  the  afternoon 
ramble  to  see,  and  it  is  only  one  of  the  Thousand  Island  Steamboat 
Company's  boats,  either  the  Islander  or  America,  that  can  pass 
through  this  group. 

On  leaving  it,  we  head  away  toward  "  Rockport,"  a  little  hamlet 
on  the  Canadian  mainland,  passing  on  our  stavboard,  or  right-hand 
side,  the  head  of  "  Geenadier  "  Island,  with  its  red -capped  Canadian 
Light-house,  "Little  Grenadier,*'  "Doctor"  and  "Star"  islands. 
The  latter  was  formerly  called  "  Tar"  Island,  but  t)ie  addition  of  a 
single  letter  has  done  wonders  for  it.  Gen.  Bradley  Winslow,  of 
Watertown,  N.  Y.,  has  a  tine  farm  on  Star  Island.  His  elegant  cot. 
tage  was  burned  in  1892.  It  is  one  of  the  most  sightly  and  romantic 
spots  on  the  river.  At  our  left  is  Westminster  Park,  a  beautiful  re- 
sort at  the  foot  of  Wellesley  Island,  as  the  Thousand  Island  Park  is 
at  its  head,  and  at  the  foot  of  "  Hill"  Island,  the  charming  villa, 
with  its  tasteful  surroundings,  of  D.  F.  Fairchild,  of  Leavenworth, 
Kansas,  classically  named  Fairjoline.  A  ferry  plies  hourly  between 
Westminster  Park  and  Alexandria  Bay,  and  from  this  point  a  narrow 
passage  leads  into  Lake  "  Waterloo,"  its  outlet  in  fact,  a  trip  to  which, 
as  I  have  already  advised,  you  should  not  fail  to  take. 

On  our  right  comes  the  little  Canadian  hamlet  of  Rockport,  and  on 
our  left  is  *'  Club  Island  "  on  which  are  the  beautiful  summer  homes 
of  Mrs.  F  Taylor,  of  New  York,  and  Jacob  A.  Skinner,  iiisq.,  of 
Newark,  N.  J  Then  comes  "Echo  Point,"  of  which  we  will  get 
auricular  demonstration,  if  the  steam  holds  out.  Just  opposite  us, 
and  about  midway  of  this  palisade  of  granite  rock,  is  an  Indian 
painting,  easily  distinguishable  from  the  deck  of  a  smaller  boat  that 
can  run  close  enough  in.  It  represents  a  wild  animal  in  the  act  of 
leaping  upon  a  warrior,  though  it  would  require  a  label  to  tell  us 
what  species  of  animal  was  intended. 

Through  what  scenes  of  nature's  own  loveliness  we  have  just 
passed  !  They  have  been  the  theme  of  writers  innumerable,  and 
poets  have  exhausted  the  power  of  song  in  their  praise.  It  was  here 
that  Tom  Moore,  in  1803,  only  a  year  previous  to  his  death,  was  in- 
spired by  the  goddess  of  song,  which  a  few  days  later  found  vent  in 
that  magnificent  poem : 


The  Rambler. 


ir 


:.  p.  wu. 

•k;  S.  A. 
You  will 
fternoon 
earn  boat 
3an  pass 

3  hamlet 
:ht-hand 
'anadian 
islands, 
ion  of  a 
slow,  of 
ant  cot- 
Dmantic 
;iful  re- 
Park  is 
g  villa, 
1  worth, 
•etween 
narrow 
which, 

and  on 
lomes 
of 
ill  get 
ite  us, 
ndian 
t  that 
act  of 
ell  us 

just 

and 

here 
as  in- 
nt  in 


3q 


••  Faintly  as  tolls  the  evening  chime, 
Our  voices  kept  tune,  and  our  oars  keep  time; 
Boon  as  the  woods  on  shore  look  dim 
We'll  sing  at  St.  Ann's  our  parting  hymn. 
Row,  brothers,  row;  the  stream  runs  fast, 
The  rapids  are  near,  and  the  daylight  is  past. 

*•  Why  should  we  yet  our  sail  unfurl  ? 
There  is  not  a  breath  the  blue  wave  to  curl  I 
But  when  the  wind  blows  off  the  shore, 
Oil!  r?\veetly  we'll  rest  on  our  weary  oar. 

K  )w,  brothers,  row;  the  stream  runs  fast, 
The  rapids  are  near,  and  the  daylight's  past, 

"Utawa's  tide!    This  trembling  moon 
Shall  see  us  float  o'er  thy  surges  soon. 
Saint  of  this  green  isle!    Hear  our  prayer, 
Oh!  graut  us  cool  heavens  and  favoring  air. 
Blow,  breezes,  blow;  the  stream  runs  fast, 
Tbe  rapids  are  near,  and  t  lie  daylight  is  past" 

But  the  most  beautiful  tribute  to  the  Thousand  Islands  ever  writ- 
ten must  be  awarded  to  one  of  Canada's  own  poets,  Joseph  Octave 
Cremazie.  His  poem  was  published  in  "  Histoire  de  la  Litterature 
Canadienne,"  in  1850,  and  again  in  1860,  by  M.  Larean,  Vol.  II,  page 
107.     I  can  only  find  room  for  a  translation  of  two  stanzas  : 

*'  AVhen  Eve  plucked  Death  from  the  Tree  of  Life,  and  brought 
tears  and  sorrow  upon  the  Earth,  Adam  was  driven  out  into  the 
world  to  mourn  with  her,  and  taste  of  the  bitter  spring  that  we  drink 
from  to-day. 

' '  Then  Angels  on  their  wings  bore  the  silent  Eden  to  the  Eternal 
Spheres  on  high,  and  placed  it  iu  the  Heavens — but  in  passing 
through  space,  they  dropped  along  the  way,  to  mark  their  course, 
some  flowers  from  the  Garden  Divine.  These  flowers  of  changing 
hue,  falling  into  the  Great  River,  became  the  Thousand  Islands  — 
the  Paradise  of  the  St.  Lawrence." 

Next  comes  tlie  widely  known  "  Lost  Channel,"  and  in  justice  to 
one  of  the  best  pilots  on  the  St.  Lawrence  river,  the  man  who  above 
an  others  originated  these  '♦  Island  Rambles,"  Capt.  Visgar,  of  Alex- 
andria Bay,  I  must  accord  a  generous  meed  of  praise,  because  no 
man  better  deserves  it. 

Early  comprehending  the  fact  that  this  group  of  islands,  situated 
comparatively  near  to  Alexandria  Bay,  which  was  destined  to  be- 


18 


The  Rami^ler. 


come  the  metropo- 
lis of  the  Thousand 
Islands,  would   at- 
tract the  attention 
of  large  numbers  of 
visitors  and  tourists 
lie  began  to  turn  his  attention  to  tiie 
means  for  gratifying  their  very  laudable 
curiosity,  and  scoied  a  grand  success.  And 
so,  to  Capt.  Visgar  alone  belongs  the  honor 
of  having  explored  the  different  channels,  and 
led  the  wrv  through  the  most  intricate  windings 
of   these  delightful   archipelagoes  of   the  noble 
St.  Lawrence. 
On  one  occasion,  while  passing  through  a  difficult 
channel  below  and  a  little  to  the  right  of  the  Fid- 
dler's Elbow  as  we  go  down  the  jiver,  a  correspondent 
of  the  New  York  Tribune,  who  was  on  board,  called  out: 
"  Captainl  what  is  the  name  of  this  chamiel  V"   Captain 
Visgar,  busy  at  the  wheel,  and  fully  occupied  in  seeing^ 
that  his  boat  passed  safely  through  the  difficult  passage,  and  not  car- 
ing to  be  disturbed  at  a  critical  moment,  answered:  "  This,  sir,  is  the 
Lost  Channel  "     The  reporter  "  took  down  "  the  answer,  and  in  due 
time  the  Tribune  had  a  lurid  description  of  the  Thousand  Islands, 
and  a  thrilling  account  of  the  passage  of  the  "  Lost  Channel." 

Just  there  was  where  Captain  Visgar  "  builded  better  than  he 
knew;  "  for  while  the  "  Lost  Channel  "  became  an  object  of  curiosity 
far  and  wide,  and  a  trip  through  it  something  to  be  desired,  not  one 
visitor  out  of  a  thousand  was  aware  of  the  fact  that  it  had  a  history 
which  went  back  a  hundred  and  thirty-five  years,  and  yet  such  is 
the  case.  I  will  give  it  as  briefly  as  possible,  referring  you  to  Major 
Haddock's  admirable  Souvenir  History  of  the  Thou^  ad  Islands  for  a 
more  elaborate  account. 


History  of  the  Lost  Channel. 

During  the  French  and  English  war,  which  began  in  1755  and 
ended  in  1760,  an  expedition  was  fitted  out  at  Oswego,  in  August  of 
the  latter  year,  for  the  final  subjugation  of  the  Canadas.     The  only 


The  Rambler. 


19 


remaining  strongliolds  of  the  French  were  Montreal,  and  a  strong 
fort  on  an  island  in  the  St.  Lawrence  river,  about  three  miles  below 
the  present  city  of  Ogdensburg,  known  as  Fort  Levis,  commanded 
by  a  distinguished  French  officer  —  Capt.  Pouchot.  Thie  expedition 
consisted  of  10,142  British  regulars  and  Colonial  troops  from  Massa 
chusetts,  Connecticut,  New  York  and  New  Jersey.  Among  the 
Massachusetts  troops  was  Israel  Putnam,  of  Revolutionary  fame, 
then  a  lieutenant-colonel.  In  addition  to  these  troops,  there  was  a 
force  of  about  1,000  Indians,  under  the  command  of  Sir  William 
Johnson.  The  commander  of  the  expedition  was  Gen.  Jeffrey 
Amherst,  the  second  in  command  behig  Gen.  Gage,  of  Boston  fame. 
At  that  time  the  English  had  two  armod  vessels  on  Liike  Ontario, 
the  Onondaga  and  the  Mohawk,  commanded  by  Capt.  John  Loring, 
as  Admiral  of  the  fleet,  which  consisted  of  the  two  vessels,  177 
batteaux  and  73  whale  boats,  besides  staff  boats,  hospital  boats,  and 
boats  for  sutler's  use.  The  first  detachment  of  troops  sailed  in  the 
two  vessels,  on  the  7th  of  August,  for  the  rendezvous  at  "Basin 
Harbor,"  Grenadier  Islaml,  at  the  head  of  the  St.  Lawrence  river. 
On  the  13th,  the  entire  army  were  assembled  on  the  island,  and  early 
on  the  morning  of  the  14th  the  entire  expedition  set  forth.  Capt. 
Loring,  with  the  two  vessels,  had  gone  ahead,  and  instead  of  keeping 
straight  down  the  South  channel,  he  crossed  just  below  the  foot  of 
Wolfe  Island  into  the  Canadian  channel.  The  French  had  been 
expecting  an  attack  from  this  direction  for  a  whole  year;  and,  in 
consequence,  had  kept  a  lookout  on  Carleton  Island,  from  which 
point  they  could  readily  see  when  the  British  forces  entered  the 
river;-and  with  swift  war  canoes  they  could  easily  convey  the  intel- 
ligence to  the  fort  below.  When  Capt.  Loring  had  fairly  entered 
the  Navy  group,  he  was  assailed  on  every  hand.  The  islands  seemed 
to  swarm  with  French  and  Indians,  who  were  raking  his  decks  with 
musketry.  To  add  to  his  discomfiture,  he  knew  nothing  of  the 
ri^'er  nor  of  the  labyrinth  of  islands  in  which  he  found  himself; 
but,  lowering  away  a  boat  and  crew,  he  sent  them  back  to  prevent 
the  Mohawk  from  entering  the  island  group;  and  manning  his  guns, 
he  swept  the  islands  around  him  with  grape  and  cannister,  as  he 
drifted  with  the  current,  he  knew  not  whither.  Fortunately,  he  got 
safely  clear  of  the  islands,  when,  coming  to  an  anchor,  he  sent  two 
other  boats  to  find  the  first  one  sent  out,  but  they  returned  unsuc- 
cessful; nor  could  they  even  distinguish  which  of  the  channels  was 
the  one  in  which  the  first  boat  was  lowered.     They  never  saw  boat 


20 


The  Rambler. 


nor  crew  again;  and  ever  afterward,  in  speaking  of  it,  they  called  it 
the  "Place  of  the  Lost  Channel."  Two  or  three  years  later,  the 
crew  of  a  batteau  found  a  broken  5'^awl  boat  bearing  the  name 
"  Onondaga,"  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  channels,  which,  since  that 
time,  has  been  known  as  the  "  Lost  Channel,"  and  which  Capt. 
Visgar  so  happily  lenamed.  The  probability  is  that  the  crew  of  the 
yawl  boat  were  killed  and  scalped  by  the  Indians,  and  their  boat 
stove  and  sunk;  and,  after  all,  we  have  no  absolute  certainty  that 
this,  more  than  any  other  of  the  numerous  channels  on  every  hand, 
was  the  one  in  which  Capt.  Loring  first  lowered  his  yawl  boat.  All 
that  Capt.  Loring's  journal  says  about  that  part  of  it  is  the  simple 
statement  that  they  "  called  it  the  place  of  the  lost  channel." 

Next  in  order  is  the  little  island  callei  "  Fiddler's  Elbow."  Why 
this  island  was  so  named  is  accounted  for  in  two  ways.  One  is,  that 
it  used  to  be  a  great  campinj^  place  for  the  crews  of  batteaux  long 
before  the  day  of  steamers  on  the  river,  and  that  usually  there  was 
a  liddlev  among  them  who  furnished  music  for  their  rude  dances. 
The  other  is  that  a  shrewd  old  river  pilot  who  used  to  bring  his  pas- 
sengers to  view  this  group  of  islands,  took  care  to  have  a  venerable 
old  fiddler,  who  lived  in  a  shanty  near  by,  always  on  hand  and  play- 
ing for  dear  life  when  the  boat  passed.  Then,  again,  the  shape  of 
the  island  suggests  the  crook  in  a  fiddler's  elbow.  You  may  suit 
yourself  as  to  the  hypotheses. 

Swinging  to  the  left  we  pass  *'  Ash  Island"  on  our  right  and  reach 
' '  Lyndock  Light."  Away  to  our  left  is  "  Boundary  Channel,"  which 
leads  into  "  Lake  Waterloo,"  or,  as  it  is  commonly  known,  the  "  Lake 
of  the  Island,"  a  place  you  should  not  fail  to  visit.  Passing  these 
we  head  away  through  the  Halstead  Bay  group;  leaving  "  Anderson's 
Camp  "  on  our  right  and  "  Smoke  Island "  on  our  loft,  we  enter 
• '  Halstead's  Bay, "  and  direct  our  course  for  Gananoque. 

The  lower  end  of  Halstead's  Bay  terminates  in  a  long  arm,  which 
extends  for  some  distance  inland.  Here  are  the  "Indian  Rocks" 
and  "  Horseblock  Point."  On  a  precipice  which  forms  a  part  of  the 
point,  there  was  clearly  visible  only  a  few  years  ago  some  aboriginal 
paintings,  representing  a  hunting  scene,  but  by  whom  painted  no 
one  could  tell;  even  the  tribes  which  were  here  when  the  white  man 
first  came,  knew  nothing  of  their  origin.  To-day  but  little  is  to  be 
seen  of  them,  though  under  a  favorable  light  it  is  said  that  the  out- 
lines are  yet  to  be  distinguished. 


The  Rambler. 


21 


There  is  another  way  through  this  labyrinth  of  islands  that  is,  if 
possible,  more  interesting  than  this.  It  takes  us  nearer  to  the  Cana- 
dian shore,  running  close  into  "Ivy's  Mills,"  past  "Champagne 
Point"  and  through  a  beautiful  net- work  of  little  islands,  bringing 
us  out  again  at  the  head  of  the  Lost  Channel.  The  steamer 
"  Islander"  sometimes  makes  a  special  trip  through  those  v'^hannels, 
and  if  the  opportunity  occurs,  you  should  not  fail  to  see  that  part  of 
tlie  group. 

On  our  left  now  is  " Stone  Island,"  "  McDonald's "  and  "Sugar" 
islands,  and  a  beautiful  group  of  small  islands  near  the  shore  of 
Grindstone  Island.  But  we  push  on  to  Jackstraw  light  and  prepare 
to  stop  at  Gananoque.  This  is  a  busy  manufacturing  village  and  will 
well  repay  a  visit  of  some  hours.  I  forgot  to  tell  you  that  the  large 
group  of  islands,  through  which  we  have  just  passed,  is  called  the 
"  Navy"  group,  and  that  the  group  through  which  we  are  about  to 
pass  is  called  the  "  Admiralty  "  group,  and  from  the  fact  that  the 
Canadian  islands  are  known  by  numbers  instead  of  names,  it  is  not 
easy  to  designate  them  clearly;  but  so  far  as  they  have  become  pri- 
vate property,  they  are  named,  and  those,  to  some  extent,  we  will 
point  out. 

As  we  swing  out  from  the  wliarf  at  Gananoque,  Tidd's  island,  on 
which  is  a  lovely  summer  resort,  is  at  our  left,  and  to  our  right  is 
"Hog"  island.  At  "  Dorsdale,"  R.  Forsyth,  Esq.,  of  Montreal, 
spends  his  vacation ;  Rev.  Prof.  Mowat,  of  Queen's  College,  Kingston, 
is  at  "Riverview,"  and  Prof.  Coleman,  of  Victoria  College,  Coburg, 
Ont.,  makes  "  Weidenfeldt "  his  summer  liome  ;  Mr.  Camp,  of 
Toronto,  owns  "Idlewild,"  and  then  comes  the  cottages  of  C.  E. 
Britton,  Esq.,  and  Dr.  A.  N.  Kincaid,  both  prominent  citizens  of 
Gananoque.  On  our  left,  again,  J.  Findley,  Esq.,  of  Montreal,  occu- 
pies "  Round  Island,"  and  on  the  right  is  the  cottage  of  Rev.  J.  Allen, 
of  Coburg,  Ont.  Then  comes  "Sylvan  Isle,''  J.  L.  Upham,  Esq.,  of 
Brockville,  Ont. 

On  our  left  the  cottages,  in  succession,  are:  "Camp  Iroquois," 
Mr.  Wallace,  of  Boston;  "  Roseneath  Villa,""  Jas.  Richmond,  Esq., 
of  Kingston;  "Channel  View,"  Jno.  Turcotte,  Esq.;  "The  Castlp," 
Prof.  N.  F.  Dupuis,  of  Queens  College;  on  our  right,  "  Burnt  Island" 
light,  and  on  our  left  is  "  Boss  Dick  Island."  The  beautiful  group, 
through  which  we  have  just  past,  is  Bostwick  channel,  one  of  the 
finest  among  the  island  groups. 


'l»sar«»»' 


22  The  Ramhlkr. 


Station  Island. 

You  have,  no  doubt,  read  that  thrilling  tale  of  Fenimore  Cooper's, 
"  The  Pathfinder."  If  so,  you  will  remember  the  episode  of 
"Station  Island,"  its  description,  how  it  was  situated,  and  for 
what  purpose  it  was  garrisoned.  Cooper,  in  "  The  Pathfinder," 
makes  no  attempt  to  locate  the  island.  He  only  relates  some  his- 
torical facts  connected  with  it,  and  gives  us  a  minute  description  of 
it.  The  time  described  was  during  the  French  and  English  war  of 
1755-60.  At  that  time  the  English  held  Oswego,  while  the  French 
had  control  of  the  lakes  with  a  strong  fort  at  Frontenac,  now  Kings- 
ton, and  a  detachment  at  Gananoque.  The  French  received  their 
supplies  from  Montreal  in  batteaux  which  came  up  the  river  in  de- 
tachments, numbering  ten  or  more  batteaux  each.  The  English  kept 
spies  on  the  lookout  for  the  arrival  of  these  convoys  of  stores  and 
provisions  with  a  view  to  their  capture.  To  that  end  ' '  Station 
Island  "  had  been  fixed  upon  as  a  suitable  place  for  a  rendezvous 
from  which  to  waylay  the  expected  fleet  of  batteaux.  It  was  to 
protect  this  fleet  that  a  party  of  French  and  Indians  had  been  sta- 
tioned at  Gananoque.. 

Now  what  are  the  historical  facts  ?  First,  the  French  posts  were 
supplied  from  Montreal  by  means  of  batteaux  ;  second,  the  British 
troops  attempted  to,  and  did  at  various  times,  capture  some  of  these* 
batteaux  with  their  stores ;  third,  that  the  British  had  some  hiding 
place  among  the  islands,  from  which  they  sallied  forth  and  made 
their  captures,  if  possible.  Now  it  is  evident  that  this  very  group 
of  islands  would  be  the  one  chosen  for  such  a  hiding  place  for  several 
reasons.  First,  it  was  nearer  Oswego;  second,  the  chances  of  recap- 
ture were  lessened;  third,  the  opportunity  of  watching  the  approach 
of  a  fleet  of  batteaux  unseen.  If  the  hiding  place  had  been  chosen 
in  the  Lower  or  Naval  group,  the  chances  of  a  recapture  would  have 
been  materially  increased.  Now  how  was  "Station  Island"  situ- 
ated ?  So  that  a  look-out  could  be  kept  on  the  river  below  ;  so  that 
the  French  post  on  the  main  land  couM  be  watched  ;  so  that  the 
island  itself  could  hardly  be  distinguislu>d  from  those  by  which  it 
was  surrounded.  One  island  in  this  group  fulfils  the  conditions,  and 
there  is  not  another  among  all  the  Thousand  Islands  that  does;  and 
hence  the  presumption  that  the  island  is  here,  and  that  it  borders  on 
Bostwick  channel.    To  one  who  is  fond  of  exploration  it  will  be  a 


The  Rambler. 


23 


half  day's  pleasure  to  search  it  out,  and  then  if  you  fail  to  find  it,  ask 
the  suide  on  the  steamer.  During  the  war  of  1812,  Gananotjue  was 
the  scene  of  a  daring  assault  on  the  part  of  a  detachment  of  Ameri- 
can troops  from  Sacket's  Harbor,  the  particulars  of  which  are  as 
follows  : 

Expe<litioii  Against  Gaiiauuqiie. 

On  the  night  of  the  20th  of  September,  1812,  Gen.  Brown  dispatched 
Capt.  Benjamin  Forsyth  with  a  force  of  ninety-five  men,  from  Sack- 
el  s  Harbor,  with  a  view  of  capturing  some  amnumition,  of  which 
hib  troops  stood  greatly  in  need.  Capt.  P'orsyth  and  his  men  landed 
at  a  point  about  two  m  s  above  the  village,  and  at  daylight  began 
their  march  on  the  place.  When  about  half  way  they  were  met  by 
two  horsemen,  one  of  whom  was  shot,  and  the  other  escaped  and 
i?ave  the  alarm.  A  force  of  110  men  at  once  opposed  the  advance  of 
the  Americans.  Halting  within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  English  line 
of  battle,  Capt.  Forsyth  ordered  his  men  to  fire  a  volley,  and  charge. 
The  order  was  obeyed,  and  the  British  were  driven  back  with  a  loss 
of  several  killed  and  wounded  and  a  dozen  prisoners.  The  spoils 
were  3,000  ball  cartridges,  and  forty-one  muskets.  Not  having  boats 
to  take  them  away,  150  barrels  of  provisions  were  burned,  as  also  was 
the  King's  Store.  It  was  only  the  next  year  that  the  British  had 
their  revenge  out  of  Capt.  Forsyth,  for  they  whipped  him  badly  at 
Ogdensburg. 

Swinging  around  toward  the  completion  of  our  grand  circle,  we 
reach  the  group  of  islands  at  the  head  of  Grindstone  Island.  On  our 
right  the  largest  of  the  group  is  "  Hickory  Island."  It  was  on  this 
island  that  the  so-called  "Patriots"  made  a  stand  in  the  winter  of 
1837.  They  had  collected  a  strong  force,  and  were  amply  provisioned, 
but  without  a  leader,  order  or  discipline, —  simply  a  mob.  On  the 
approach  of  a  small  force  from  Kingston,  with  a  piece  of  light  artil- 
lery, they  Hed  without  firing  a  shot,  leaving  the  most  of  their  stores 
behind.  It  was  a  perfect  stampede  ;  and  to  use  the  language  of  an 
^ye  witness:  "I  wouldn't  wonder  if  some  of  them  were  running 
yet." 

On  the  left  are  "Coral"  and  "Club"  islands,  on  the  former  of 
which  is  the  beautiful  Japanese  Villa,  owned  by  Mr.  C.  Wolfe.  Other 
K^ottages  are  owned  by  Thomas  Thatcher,  Esq. .  of  Boston:  Mrs.  Moore, 
Harry  Morgan  and  Bryant  Lindley,  Esqs.,  all  of  New  York. 


24 


The  Rambler. 


We  now  head  away  for  Clayton,  passing  through  the  Blanket 
shoals,  and  leaving  Bartlet's  Point  on  our  right,  and  "Governor" 
and  "Calumet"  islands  to  our  left,  on  the  latter  of  which  is  the 
elegant  palace-cottage  belonging  to  Chas.  G.  Emory,  Esq.,  of  New 
York.  Bartlet's  Point  is  now  called  "  Prospect  Park."  It  was  first 
named  Bartlet's  Point,  because  a  man  of  that  name  settled  there  in 
1801  and  ran  a  ferry  to  Gananoque.  It  is  said  of  him  that  he  set  his 
house  on  fire  and  ran  away  by  the  light  of  it.  Away  yonder  to 
our  right  you  see  that  a  bridge  spans  the  outlet  of  French  creek,  a  con- 


ONE   OF   THE    FOLGER    STEAMERS. 


siderable  stream  that  flows  into  the  bay  here;  just  above  that  bridge 
once  stood  an  Iroquois  fort,  or  rather  a  Huron  fort,  which  was  cap- 
tured from  them  by  one  of  the  Iroquois  tribes  —  tlie  Oneidas.  That 
must  have  been  fully  200  years  ago.  The  creek  was  called  by  tbe 
Indians  Weteringhea  Guentere.  But  there  was  quite  a  skirmish  tliere 
in  1813,  when  the  American  troops  under  Gen.  Brown,  being  the  ad- 


The  Rambler. 


25 


vance  of  that  ill-fated  expedition  under  Wilkinson,  which  was  so 
badly  whipped  by  the  British  at  Chrysler's  farm  only  a  few  weeks 
later,  was  attacked  by  a  British  force.  The  following  is  a  brief  his- 
tory of  the  affair,  which  you  can  read  at  your  leisure: 


The  Battle  of  French  Creek. 

Gen.  Jacob  Brown,  commanding  the  advance  of  Gen.  Wilkinson's 
expedition,  arrived  at  French  Creek  on  the  evening  of  October  30, 
1813,  and  on  the  next  day  crossed  a  part  of  his  command  to  the 
opposite  shore,  and  awaited  an  expected  attack.  By  his  direction^ 
Capt.  McPherson,  of  the  U.  S.  Light  Artillery,  had  erected  a  battery 
on  Bartlet's  Point  and  mounted  three  long  eighteen  poimders.  From 
his  elevated  position,  Capt.  McPherson  could  command  the  entrance 
to  the  bay  and  pretty  effectually  shell  the  entire  peninsula  on  which 
the  village  of  Clayton  now  stands. 

On  the  evening  of  Noveml)er  1st,  the  attack  was  made  by  a  fleet 
of  two  schooners,  two  brigs,  and  several  boats  loaded  with  troops. 
The  first  attempt  was  made  upon  Capt.  McPherson's  battery,  but  the 
guns  were  so  well  served,  and  so  accurate  was  their  fire,  that  the 
vessels  were  soon  forced  to  drop  down  the  river,  beyond  the  rango 
of  the  battery.  The  next  morning  the  attack  was  renewed.  The 
troops  were  landed  on  the  peninsula,  below  where  the  village  now 
stands,  and  marched  across  to  the  attack.  In  the  meantime,  For- 
syth's riflemen  had  been  deployed  in  the  woods  as  skirmishers,  and 
met  the  advancing  troops  with  a  galling  fire,  which  threw  them  into 
confusion.  Simultaneously  with  the  landing  of  the  troops,  the 
vessels  again  attacked  the  battery  on  Bartlet's  Point,  but  with  less 
success  than  at  first.  Three  of  them  were  so  disabled  in  a  few 
minutes  that  they  were  glad  to  drift  down  the  river  and  out  of 
range;  and  the  fourth,  deeming  discretion  the  better  part  of  valor, 
withdrew.  The  troops,  seeing  their  vessels  disabled,  made  a  pre- 
cipitate retreat,  and  thus  ended  the  battle  of  French  Creek. 

And  now,  dear  Rambler,  we  have  completed  a  circle  of  nearly  if 
not  quite  sixty  miles  in  circumference,  and  arrived  at  our  starting 
point.  The  thing  now  to  do  is  to  round  out  the  day  by  taking  the 
Search  Light  ramble  to-night,  a  description  of  which  you  will  find 
in  another  place. 


26 


The  Rambler. 


The  Search  Light. 

For  this  trip  we  board  the  steamer  St.  Lawrence,  for  the  reason 
that  it  lias  the  most  powerful  Search  Light  on  the  river,  and  was  the 
first  to  bring  tliese  fascinating  trips  into  ijopular  notice,  and  is  be- 
sides the  largest  steamer  on  the  river  that  gives  these  Search  Light 
excursions  on  so  grand  a  scale.  There  are  other  considerations,  too, 
which  you  will  note  as  you  go  along,  not  the  least  of  which  is  the 
fact  that  the  science  of  electricity  has  made  these  trips  a  nightly  pos- 
sibility, because  of  the  element  of  absolute  safety  that  it  has  brought 
into  play.  Before  the  Search  Light  came,  a  night  trip  among  the 
river  archipelagoes  w.is  an  affair  of  moonlight.  No  pilot,  however 
skillful,  cared  to  thread  the  tortuous  channels  in  a  moonless  night. 
Now,  the  situation  is  changed.  A  cool-headed  captain  and  a  careful 
mate  and  skillful  wheelsman,  with  an  expert  electrician,  as  the 
steamer  St.  Lawrence  always  has,  and  barring  accidents  which  no 
man  can  foresee,  a  trip  among  the  islands  on  a  night  of  inky  black- 
ness is  as  safe  as  an  easy  chair  at  home.  Skill  and  science  united 
have  reduced  danger  to  a  mere  nothing. 

As  before,  we  board  the  steamer  at  Alexandria  Bay,  and  start  up 
the  river.  First  on  one  shore  and  then  on  the  other,  the  Search 
Light  sends  a  flood  of  radiance  that  illumines  every  spot  it  touches, 
as  with  the  glare  of  a  noonday  sun;  camp  and  cottage,  leafy  covert 
and  rocky  glen,  all  stand  revealed.  Here  a  flood  of  light  reveals 
liappy  groups  on  porch  and  balcony  of  hotel  and  cottage,  and  there 
a  leafy  covert  becomes  a  bower  of  brilliancy,  while  eerie  shadows 
dark  as  Erebus  flee  away  into  inky  depths.  It  is  a  succession  of 
transformation  scenes  never  equaled  elsewhere. 

Touching  at  all  points  on  our  way  up  the  river,  we  stop  for  a 
short  time  at  Clayton  and  then  head  away  across  the  river  for  the 
passage  between  Grindstone  Island  on  our  left,  and  "Robbins"' 
Island  on  our  right,  known  as  "  Robbins'  Cut."  All  the  way  up  the 
river  we  have  been  greeted  with  rockets  and  red  fire,  and  ever,  now 
they  have  not  ceased.  Passing  "Calumet  Island,"  on  our  loft,  we 
approach  a  jolly  camp  on  Grindstone  Island,  where  cheers  and  fire- 
,  works  seem  to  spring  forth  spontaneously;  and  then  on  we  go 
through  the  long  narrow  channel,  lighted  alternately  from  side  to 
side,  and  out  into  the  broad  waters  of  "  Eel  Bay,"  passing  "Point 
Angier,"  "Elephant  Rock,"  "Picnic"  and  "Squaw"  Points  on  our 


I 


Thk  Rambler. 


27 


e  reason 
was  the 
nd  is  be- 
lli Light 
ons,  too, 
;h  is  the 
litly  pos- 
brought 
long  the 
liowever 
8  night. 
I  careful 
,  as  the 
'hich  no 
y  black- 
;  united 

5tart  up 
Search 
ouches, 
covert 
reveals 
d  there 
ladows 
sion  of 

for  a 

or  the 

)bin8' " 

up  the 

r.  now 

ft,  we 

J  fire- 

we  go 

ide  to 

Point 

■on  our 


left,  and  then  swinging  otT  toward  the  lights  in  the  "(Irand  View 
Park"  Hotel,  near  which  are  celebrated  pot-holes.  On  our  right 
as  we  speed  along  is  a  group  of  but  little  more  than  bare  rocks, 
known  as  "Robinson's"  or  "Indian"  Islands.  Should  we  be 
signaled,  we  will  stop  a  moment  at  Grand  View  Park,  but  if  not  we 
head  away  for  "  Lyndock  "  Light  at  the  entrance  to  the  "Navy" 
group  and  so  down  past  the  "Fiddler's  Elbow,"  on  through  the 
group  past  Echo  Point,  past  Rockport,  and  across  through  the  Bay 
Group  and  home  to  Alexandria  Bay,  in  good  time  for  bed,  or  for  the 
"hop"  at  the  hotel;  just  as  we  feel  inclined.  Reader,  our  regular 
rambles  are  ended,  and  now  with  your  kind  permission  I  will  sug- 
gest, without  entering  into  any  special  description,  a  few 

Other  Trip.s. 

I  have  already  hinted  that  a  trip  to  "  Ivy's  Mills,"  and  among  the 
beautiful  islands  bordering  that  part  of  the  mainland,  is  a  very  de- 
sirable one.  It  is  true  that,  as  yet,  no  regular  trip  has  been  estab- 
lished through  this  part  of  the  Navy  Group,  but  the  time  is  not  far 
distant  when  the  demands  of  sightseers  will  be  complied  with  and 
new  ramble  routes  opened,  and,  among  them  all,  this  divergence 
from  the  present  route  will  be  very  popular  because  of  its  beauty. 

The  trip  through  "  Boundary  Channel,"  and  to  "Waterloo  Lake," 
should  not  be  forgotten,  especially  the  latter.  Until  the  steamboat 
companies  provide  for  a  regular  trip  to  these  places,  you  can  always 
charter  a  small  steam  yacht,  with  a  competent  pilot,  to  explore 
them.  The  better  plan  is  to  make  up  a  party;  and  in  this  way  the 
cost  of  the  trip  is  not  great,  and  if  a  fine  day  be  chosen,  it  cannot 
fail  to  be  one  of  great  pleasure. 

Another  pleasant  side  trip  is  to  "  Goose  Bay,"  and  the  beautiful 
island  group — "  Dinkelspiel" — at  its  entrance.  "  Cranberry  Creek," 
which  was  the  scene  of  quite  a  sharp  skirmish  during  the  war  of 
1812,  flows  into  Goose  Bay.  I  give  you  a  brief  sketch  of  the  affair, 
hoping  that  it  may  not  be  entirely  devoid  of  interest. 

Battle  of  Cranberry  Creek. 

This  was  one  of  the  most  stirring  affairs  that  took  place  among  the 
Thousand  Islands  during  the  war  of  1812-14;  and  seems  to  be  the 
only  case  on  record  where  a  deputy  collector  of  a  port  exercised 
the  authority  to  grant  letters  of  marque;  but  such  is  the  fact  in  this 


28 


The  Rambler. 


case,  and  whether  there  are  other  instances  of  a  like  nature  remains 
to  be  seen. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  on  the  14th  of  July,  1813,  two  armed  boats,  the 
Fox  and  Neptune,  the  latter  a  private  craft,  armed  with  one  6-pounder 
and  a  swivel,  the  former  a  government  boat,  left  Sacket's  Harbor 
under  letters  of  marque,  issued  by  the  deputy  collector  of  the  dis- 
trict. The  Neptune  was  manned  by  twenty-four  volunteers,  under 
the  command  of  Capt.  Samuel  Dixon,  and  tlie  Fox,  commanded  by 
Capt.  Dimmock,  by  twenty-one  men  Of  the  Twenty-fii  t  Infantry, 
under  Lieutenants  Burbank  and  Perry,  and  a  detachment  of  the 
Forsyth  Rifles,  under  Lieut.  Hawkins  and  Sergt.  James. 

The  expedition  was  litted  out  by  Marinus  W.  Gilbert,  of  Water- 
town,  with  the  object  of  cutting  off  a  detachment  of  the  enemy's 
boats,  which  were  expected  to  arrive  up  the  river  about  this  time, 
laden  with  stores.  The  two  boats  touched  at  Cape  Vincent  on  their 
way  down  the  river,  and  made  a  short  halt  at  French  ^'reek,  now 
Clayton,  and  t\.  n  pushed  en  to  Cranberry  Creek,  wl  liey  held  a 

review,  put  their  boats  in  complete  order,  examined  and  cleaned 
their  arms,  and  then  sent  forward  an  express  to  Ogdensburg  for  in- 
telligence. At  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  second  day  the 
looked-for  intelligence  came,  and  at  nine  o'clock  that  night  the  two 
boats  left  the  creek  and  pulled  across  the  river  into  the  Canadian 
channel,  and  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  they  discovered  a  brig- 
ade of  the  enemy's  batteaux  lying  at  "Simmon's  Landing,"  under 
the  protection  of  His  Majesty's  gunboat  Spitfire,  just  ready  to  pro- 
ceed to  Kingston. 

Pushing  rapidly  to  the  shore,  Lieutenant  Perry  with  Sergeant 
James  and  twenty-seven  men  landed  to  cut  off  their  retreat,  while 
Captain  Dixon,  with  Lieutenant  Burbank  and  the  remainder  of  the 
men  took  possession  of  the  batteaux  and  gunboat.  So  complete  was 
the  surprise,  that  the  fifteen  batteaux  and  the  gunboat  with  their 
crews,  were  captured  without  a  single  shot  being  fired  on  either 
side,  and  by  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  they  were  safe  in  Cranberry 
Creek  again,  and  Lieutenant  Burbank  started  at  once  for  Sacket's 
Harbor,  with  a  detachment  of  fifteen  men  and  sixty-nine  prisoners. 

In  the  meantime  news  had  reached  Kingston  and  a  force  was  sent 
to  recapture  the  gunboat  and  batteaux,  consisting  of  four  gunboats, 
and  the  Earl  of  Moira,  an  eigh teen-gun  brig;  and  on  the  morning 
of  the  21st,  just  as  the  rising  sun  tipped  with  gold  the  island  sum- 


Lire  remains 

i  boats,  the 
e  6-pounder 
et's  Harbor 
of  the  dis- 
eers,  under 
uianded  by 
t  Infantry, 
tent  of  the 

,  of  Water- 
lie  enemy's 
t  ♦^his  time, 
nt  on  their 
■reek,  now 
liey  held  a 
id  cleaned 
irg  for  in- 
id  day  the 
lit  tiie  two 
Canadian 
•ed  a  brig. 
"  under 
dy  to  pro- 


Sergeant 
at,  while 
er  of  the 
plete  was 
ith  their 
on  either 
ran berry 
Sacket's 
(risoners. 
was  sent 
unboats, 
morning 
tid  sum. 


Tup:  Ramblkk. 


29 


mits,  tlie  four  gunboats  manned  with  250  men  were  discovered 
entering  Goose  Bay  and  making  their  way  to  the  mouth  of  the  creek. 

Thirty  men  met  them  and  gallantly  disputed  their  landing,  while 
twenty  more  took  up  a  position  from  which  they  Jould  successfully 
dispute  their  further  advance;  and  in  the  meantime  the  six-pounder 
opened  a  rapid  and  galling  fire  which  seriously  disabled  two  of  the 
British  gunboats,  the  crews  turning  their  attention  to  plugging  the 
shot-holes  in  them.  In  a  short  time  the  enemy  retired  to  the  boats 
and  after  pulling  beyond  gunshot,  sent  in  a  flag  of  truce  demanding 
a  surrender  to  "  stop  the  effusion  of  blood,"  which  was  answered  by 
an  advance  of  our  men,  and  reopening  the  fire  on  the  gunboats, 
when  they  hurriedly  retreated,  and  the  battle  of  Cranberry  Creek 
was  over.  The  casualties  on  our  side  were  two  men  killed  and  one 
woundtd,  while  the  British  loss  is,  by  their  own  authorities  admitted 
to  have  been  twelve  killed  and  several  wounded,  l>eside8  the  loss  of 
Captain  Milnes,  a  gallant  officer,  and  aid-de-camp  to  the  "  Commander 
of  the  Forces." 

The  capture  was  of  great  value,  but  owing  to  the  fact  that  some  of 
the  batteaux  were  hurriedly  sunk  without  orders,  it  proved  to  be  an 
unprofitable  expedition  to  its  i)romoters.  The  lading  of  the  batteaux 
consisted  of  270  barrels  of  pork  and  270  bags  of  hard  bread,  most 
of  which  were  scattered  and  wasted  in  some  way;  at  all  events  they 
failed  to  reach  Sacket's  Harbor,  although  the  expedition  returned 
safely,  meeting  its  only  mis'  <p  when  rounding  Tibbett's  Point;  it 
was  fired  upon  by  the  Earl  <  •  Toira,  and  though  some  of  the  boats 
were  struck  by  her  shot,  they  all  escaped. 

There  is  another  pleasant  trip  to  be  taken,  which  loads  us  down 
along  the  American  shore  and  through  a  hne  group  of  islands  in 
"Chippewa  Bay,"  the  largest  of  which  is  "Oak"  Island,  formerly 
known  as  "  Indian  Hut "  Island.  As  long  ago  as  when  Count  Fron- 
tenac  was  the  commander  of  the  French  forces  in  Canada,  an  Indian, 
familiarly  known  as  the  Quaker,  because  of  his  peaceful  proclivities, 
obtained  a  grant  from  the  count,  of  this  island;  and  with  a  numlier 
of  families  of  his  tribe,  made  a  considerable  settlement  upon  it.  He 
had  been  much  among  the  French  and  was  extremely  fond  of  imi- 
tating their  courtly  manners,  though  his  efforts  to  do  so  were,  at 
times,  extremely  ludicrous.  He  affected  all  the  airs  and  graces  of 
Count  Frontenac  himself,  and  regarded  the  Indian  settlers  on  his  island 
in  the  light  of  subjects  over  whom  he  exercised  a  mild  sovereignty. 


30 


The  Rambler. 


His  aboriginal  lordship  was  too  fond  of  the  "  fire-water, "  however, 
and  so  he  sold  his  domain  one  day  for  a  jug  of  rum,  but  he  retained 
a  lifo  lease,  and  continued  to  play  the  sovereign  until  King  Death 
preferred  his  claim  and  ended  the  lease.  There  are  beautiful  cot- 
tages on  some  of  these  islands,  and  more  will  be  erected  in  the  near 
future.  The  little  hamlet  of  Chippewa  Bay  was  visited  by  a  British 
force  from  Canada  during  the  war  of  1812,  but  it  retired  without  do- 
ing any  great  damage.  This  part  of  the  Thousand  Islands  i'^^  well 
worth  seeing,  and  though  as  yet  none  oi  the  steamboat  managers 
have  made  any  special  provision  for  visitors  to  travel  this  route,  it  is 
one  that  ere  long  the  traveling  public  will  demand  to  see,  and  then 
it  will  not  be  long  before  the  means  are  provided. 

From  Chippewa  Bay,  we  steam  directly  across  the  river,  passing 
over  the  scene  of  a  naval  engagement  in  1813,  betueen  the  American 
schooner  Julia,  and  the  British  scliooner  Earl,  in  which  the 
Julia  got  the  worst  of  it  and  fled  to  Ogdensburg.  It  was  on  the 
same  spot,  also,  that  the  British,  under  General  Amherst,  in  1760, 
captured  a  Frenel^  brig.  On  our  way,  we  pass  Cedar,  Dark  and 
Corn  Islands,  and  a  beautiful  group  named  respectively.  Pearl, 
Cherry,  Narrow,  Little,  Suma,  and  Tent  Islands.  Close  to  the 
Canadian  shore  is  Chimney  Island,  on  which  at  one  time  there  were 
fortifications;  probably  during  the  War  of  1812.  Turning  up  stream 
we  pass  inside  of  "Grenadier"  Island,  and  find  hidden  away  there 
another  beautiful  cluster  of  islands,  the  principal  ones  of  which  are 
Pooles,  Senec.ils,  and  O'Neils.  It  is  along  this  shore  that  a  writer 
has  laid  the  scene  of  an  interesting  tale,  entitled  the  "Witch  of 
Plum  Hollow,"  founded  on  an  old  legend  of  the  vicinity.  Passing 
out  into  the  main  channel  at  the  jiead  of  Grenadier  Island,  we  steam 
away  for  Alexandria  Bay,  having  had  one  of  the  most  enjoyable 
trips  on  the  river. 

Fort  Halclininnd. 

The  ruins  of  this  very  elaborate  fortification  are  situated  on  a  bluff 
at  the  head  of  Carleton  Island,  about  eleven  miles  above  Clayton, 
and  in  the  middle  of  the  American  Channel.  This  fort  was  erected 
by  the  British.  It  was  begun  in  1778,  the  next  year  after  the  sur- 
render ot  Burgoyne  at  Saratoga.  For  some  years,  it  was  the  most 
important  military  and  naval  station  on  the  St.  Lawrence  river,  or 
on  the  lakes  even,  above  Montreal.    There  are  some  of  the  old  bar- 


The  Rambler. 


31 


"  however, 
he  retained 
^ing  Death 
autiful  cot- 
n  the  near 
►y  a  British 
ivithout  do- 
tids  is  well 
managers 
route,  it  is 
,  and  then 

er,  passing 
'■  American 
tvhich    the 
vas  on  the 
it,  in  1760, 
Dark  and 
ly,   Pearl, 
>se  to  the 
here  were 
up  stream 
w'ay  tliere 
which  are 

a  writer 
Witch  of 

Passing 
tve  steam 
njoyable 


n  a  bluff 
Clayton, 
Greeted 
the  sur- 
he  most 
river,  or 
old  bar- 


rack chimnies  yet  standing,  and  the  earth- works  are  very  distinct, 
while  the  ditch,  whif  ii  was  cut  in  the  limestone  rock,  is  the  same  as 
ever.  The  outer  parapet  and  glacis  have  been  much  damaged  by 
the  removal  of  the  stone  of  which  they  were  built.  The  places  of  the 
garrison  well,  the  magazines,  the  bastions  and  salients  are  distinct  and 
easily  located.  This  island  played  an  important  part  in  the  war  of 
the  Revolution.  Here  was  the  home  of  the  noted  Thayendanegea, 
alias  Joseph  Brandt,  the  chief  of  the  Six  Nations.  It  was  from  this 
island  that  the  expeditions  against  Wyoming,  Cherry  Valley,  and 
Fort  Edward,  bloody  massacres  all,  were  sent  out.  The  fort  was 
built  after  the  plans  of  Lieut.  Twiss,  Burgoyne's  chief  engineer, 
who  afterward  became  Lieutenant-General  Twiss,  the  greatest  mili- 
tary engineer  Great  Britain  ever  had;  and  by  him  the  fortification 
was  named  Fort  Haldimand,  in  honor  o^  Gen.  Sir  Frederick  Haldi- 
mand,  under  whose  orders  the  fort  was  built,  and  who  at  that  time 
was  commander-in-chief  of  His  Ilajesty's  forces  in  Canada.  At  the 
same  time,  the  name  of  the  island  was  changed  from  "  Deer"  Island 
to  "Carleton"  Island,  in  honor  of  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  afterward  Lord 
Dorchester.  Under  the  cliff  on  which  the  ruins  of  the  old  fort  are 
situated  is  a  beautiful  peninsula  wiCi  a  lovely  bay  on  either  hand. 
During  the  Britisli  occupation  this  was  called  **  Government  Point;" 
and  was  given  up  to  the  use  exclusively  of  the  naval  officers  and 
artificers.  There  was  a  large  shipyard  on  the  Point,  and  many  ves- 
sels of  war  and  gunboats  were  built  there. 

Now,  the  "Government  Point"  of  those  days  is  occupied  by  the 
grounds  of  the  Utica  Club  and  several  private  cottages,  one  of  which, 
Capt.  Wyckoff's,  of  the  firm  of  "Wyckoff,  Seamans  &  Benedict,  of 
New  York,  is  one  of  the  finest  and  costliest  on  the  river.  It  is  up 
here,  too,  where  the  best  black-bass  fishing  in  the  world  is  to  be  ha<l. 

Kingston. 

Of  course  you  will  not  fail  to  board  that  most  magnificent  of  river 
steamerp  the  "Empire  State,"  for  a  visit  to  Kingston,  the  Fort 
Frontenac  of  the  French.  There  are  many  places  of  interest  in 
Kingston  well  worth  a  visit.  To  an  American,  unacquainted  witli 
Canadian  cities,  Kingston  has  a  series  of  surprises  in  store,  and  a  day 
or  two  may  be  profitably  spent  there.  Fort  Henry,  me  Military  Col- 
lege, the  Artillery  Barracks,  on  the  site  of  Old  Fort  Frontenac.  the 
Cathedral,   the  Dominion  Penitentiary,  the  Insane  Asylum,  an!  a 


32 


The  Rambler. 


round  trip  on  the  Electric  Railway  —  which  last  enables  you  to  see  the 
most  in  the  least  time  —  are  among  the  interesting  points  to  be  visited, 
rnd  if  your  stay  is  limited,  take  the  Electric  Railway  trip  by  all 
means  ;  because  it  describes  a  complete  circle  through  all  the  best 
portions  of  the  city 

Special  Trips. 

Several  times,  during  the  season,  one  or  another  of  the  elegant 
steamers  of  the  Thousand  Island  Steamboat  Company,  will  make  a 
special  excursion  to  Morrisburg,  a  quaint  but  pleasant  Canadian 


THE   DITCH  AT  FORT  HALDIMAND. 


town,  about  twenty  miles  below  Ogdensburg.  During  this  trip  the 
steamer  runs  the  "  Galloup  Rapid  "  and  the  "  Rapide  du  Plat."  Be- 
low Ogdensburg,  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  is  the  Old 
Windmill,  made  famous  during  the  so-called  Patriot  war  of  '37, 
though  why  called  "  Patriot "  does  not  appear  so  clearly,  and  still 
lower  down  is  "  Chimney  Island,"  on  which  are  the  remains  of  Fort 
Levis,  the  last  stronghold  of  the  French  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  and 
taken  by  Gen.  Jeffrey  Lord  Amherst  in  1760.  You  will  find  this  a 
Tery  interesting  excursion  and  one  you  cannot  afford  to  miss. 


""ou  to  see  the 

to  be  visited, 

^  trip  by  all 

all  the  best 


the  elegant 
will  make  a 
it  Canadian 


s  trip  the 
lat."  Be- 
s  the  Old 
ar  of  '37, 
and  still 
IS  of  Fort 
3nce,  and 
nd  this  a 

88. 


The  Rambler. 

"  Pictoii, "  and  the  '•  Lake  on  the  Mountain." 


33 


This  is  another  special  trip  afforded  by  the  Tliousand  Island  Steam- 
boat Com[)any  every  week  during  the  season.  Not  only  does  the 
tourist,  on  this  trip,  experience  the  pleasure  of  viewing  the  delight- 
fully romantic  scenery  of  the  "  Bay  of  Quinte,"  and  a  visit  to  one  of 
its  pleasantest  villages,  but  he  will  have  the  pleasure  of  inspecting 
one  of  the  greatest  natural  phenomena  known  to  this  or  any  other 
country.  The  "  Lake  on  the  Mountain  '"  has  attracted  the  attention 
of  scientists  from  every  part  of  the  civilized  world.  It  is  a  huge 
spring,  widening  out  to  the  dimensions  of  a  pond,  situated  upon  the 
summit  of  a  ridge  which  lies  between  Lake  Ontario  and  "Bay  de 
Quinte,"  and  tnore  than  a  hundred  feet  above  either.  I  have  not 
the  exact  figures  within  reach,  but  my  impression  is  that  the  ' '  Lake  " 
is  over  150  feet  higher  than  the  level  of  Lake  Ontario.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  it  furnishes  a  constant  supply  of  water  sufficient  to  propel  a 
large  amount  of  machinery,  and  never  fails.  It  is  really  worth  a 
visit  for  itself  alone,  without  the  other  pleasant  features  of  the  trip 
as  an  accompaniment. 

I  might  suggest  other  special  trips  to  you,  but  they  would  take  me 

beyond  the  original  scope  of  this  booklet.     In  describing  to  you  the 

trips  among  the  Islands,  it  is  very  probable  that  I  have  made  some 

errors,  either  of  omission  or  commission  ;  and  if  it  be  so,  it  is  really 

not  to  be  wondered  at,  because  I  have  written  almost  entirely  from 

memory.     Then,  too,  new  places  are  springing  up;   new  cottages 

are  in   process  of    erection    every  summer,   and   new   names    are 

adopted  ;  so  that  what  may  be  correct  this  season,  may  be  wrong 

the  next.     However,  what  is  wrong  in  this  edition  will  be  gladly 

set  right  in  the  next,  for  we  expect  to  keep  pace  with  the  times 

and  seasons. 

L.'Envoi. 

And  now,  dear  Rambler,  we  have  spent  some  pleasant  hours  in  our 
excursions  together,  and  I  hope  we  may  spend  many  more  ;  and 
when  toward  life's  close  we  look  back  to  the  many  enjoyments 
experienced  among  the  beautiful  scenery  of  the  Thousand  Islands, 
let  us  hope  that  not  a  single  regret  will  cast  its  shadow  across  the 
bright  retrospect.  To  me,  these  rambles  are  always  pleasant,  and 
if  I  have  added  a  mite  to  the  sum  total  of  your  enjoyment,  I  am  con- 
tent.    Au  revoir  ! 


34 


The  Rambler. 


Island  Directory. 

The  following  is  a  late  revised  list  of  islands  and  points,  with  their 
owners'  names,  from  Clayton  to  Goose  Bay,  on  the  American  side: 

Cement  Point,  head  of  Grindstone  Island,  owned  by  W.  F.  Ford 
and  others. 

Goose  Island,  two  acres,  owned  by  E.  S.  Brooks,  Brooklyn. 

Hon  Island,  one-half  acre,  owned  by  W.  F.  Morgan,  New  York. 

L  tvitts'  Island,  one-quarter  acre,  owned  by  H.  G.  Davitts,  New 
York. 

Carroll  Island,  two  acres,  owned  by  Jas.  A.  Cheney,  Syracuse. 

Boscobel  Island,  one-half  acre,  owned  by  G.  S.  Hopkins,  Kansas. 

Bluff  Island,  twenty  acres,  owned  by  E.  B.  Washburn,  New  York* 

Clinton  Island,  No.  1,  fifteen  acres,  owned  by  N.  S.  Seely,  New  York. 

Clinton  Island,  No.  2,  three  acres,  owned  by  N.  S.  Seely,  New  York. 

Governor's  Island,  owned  by  Chas.  G.  Emery,  New  York. 

Calumet,  owned  by  Chas.  G.  Emery,  New  York. 

Etheridge,  head  of  Round  Island,  owned  by  Dr.  Geo.  D.  Whalen, 
Syracuse. 

Shady  Ledge,  foot  of  Round  Island,  owned  by  Frank  R.  Taylor, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Brooklyn  Heights,  foot  of  Round  Island,  owned  by  C.  S.  Johnson, 
Brooklyn. 

Long  Rock,  one  acre,  owned  by  VV.  F.  Wilson,  Watertown. 

Hemlock  Island,  twenty  acres,  owned  by  W.  F.  Porter  and  W.  F. 
Wilson,  Watertown. 

Stewart,  or  Jeffers,  Island,  ten  acres,  owned  by  E.  P.  Gardiner  and 
twelve  others,  Syracuse,  and  other  places. 

Two  in  Eel  Bay,  two  acres,  owned  by  Dr.  E.  L.  Sargent,  Watertown. 

Twin  Islands,  one  acre,  owned  by  J.  L.  Huntington,  Theresa. 

Watch  Island,  one  acre,  owned  by  S.  F.  Skinner,  New  York. 

Occident  and  Orient,  three  acres,  owned  by  E.  N.  Robinson,  New 
York. 

Isle  of  Pines,  two  acres,  owned  by  Mrs.  E.  N.  Robinson,  New  York. 

Frederick  Island,  two  acres,  owned  by  C.  L.  Frederick,  Cartnage. 

Bay  Side,  one  acre,  owned  by  H.  F.  Mosher,  Watertown. 

Riverside,  mainland,  one  acre,  owned  by  J.  C.  Lee,  Gouverneur. 

Killain  Point,  mainland,  one  acre,  owned  by  Mr.  Killian,  Lockport, 
N.  Y. 


The  Rambler. 


35 


with  their 
ican  side: 

W.  F.  Ford 

yn. 

!w  York. 

i^itts,  New 

•acuse. 
Kansas, 
few  York* 
^evvYork, 
few  York. 
k. 

Whalen, 
a.  Taylor, 
Johnson, 

n. 

nd  W.  F. 

liner  and 

itertown. 

esa. 

'rk. 

on,  New 

^w  York, 
artnage. 

rneur. 
Dckport, 


Holloway  Point,  mainland,  one  acre,  owned  by  N.  Holloway, 
Omar,  N.  Y. 

Fisher's  Landing,  mainland,  two  acres,  owned  by  Mrs.  R.  Gunn, 
Omar,  N.  Y. 

Island  Home,  one  acre,  owned  by  Mrs.  S.  D.  Hungerford,  Adams, 
N.  Y. 

Harmony,  one-quarter  acre,  owned  by  Mrs.  Burger,  Syracuse. 

Waving  Branches,  on  Wells'  Island,  owned  by  D.  C.  Graham  and 
nine  others. 

Bonnie  Eyrie,  on  Wells'  Island,  owned  bv  Mrs.  Peck,  Boonville, 
N.  Y. 

Throop's  Dock,  on  Wells'  Island,  owned  by  Drs.  C.  E.  and  D.  S.  J. 
Latimer,  New  York. 

Jolly  Oaks,  on  Wells'  Island,  twenty  acres,  owned  by  Prof.  A.  H. 
Brown  and  four  others. 

Blanch  Island,  ten  acres,  owned  by  Mrs.  A.  M.  Kenyon,  Water- 
town. 

Josephine,  twenty  acres,  owned  by  Mrs.  A.  M.  Kenyon,  Water- 
town. 

Craig  Side,  Wells'  Island,  owned  byH.  A.  Laughlin,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 

Covert  Point,  Wells'  Island,  owned  by  B.  J.  Maycock,  Buffalo. 

Calumet  Island,  one-half  acre,  owned  by  Oliver  H.  Green,  Boston. 

Van  Patten,  one  acre,  owned  by  Gen.  J.  B.  Van  Patten,  Claverack, 
N.  Y. 

Point  Vivian,  mainland,  ten  acres,  owned  by  R.  Toyer  and  ten  others. 

Lindress,  one  acre,  owned  by  John  Lindress,  Jersey  City. 

Isle  Royal,  one  acre,  owned  by  R.  E.  Deane,  New  York. 

Cedar  Island,  one  acre,  owned  by  J.  M.  Curtis,  Cleveland,  O. 

Wild  Rose,  one  acre,  owned  by  Hon.  W.  G.  Rose,  Cleveland,  O. 

Alleghany  Point,  mainland,  one  acre,  owned  by  J.  S.  Laney,  Pa. 

Plato,  two  acres,  owi\ed  by  H.  R.  Heath,  Brooklyn. 

Seven  Isles,  five  acres,  owned  by  Gen.  Bradley  Winslow,  Water- 
tcwn. 

Louisiana  Point,  Well's  Island,  three  acres,  owned  by  Hon.  D.  C. 
Labatt,  New  Orleans. 

Bella  Vista  Lodge,  mainland,  five  acres,  Wm.  Chisholm,  Cleve- 
land,  O. 

Neh  Mahbin  Island,  two  acres,  owned  by  James  H.  Oliphant, 
Brooklyn. 


3G 


The  Rambler. 


Comfort  Island,  two  acres,  owned  by  A.  E.  Clark,  Chicago. 

Warner's  Island,  one  acre,  owned  by  Mrs.  H.  H.  Warner,  Rochester. 

Wanwinet  Island,  one-half  acre,  owned  by  C.  E.  Hill,  Chicago. 

Kewaydin,  owned  by  J.  W.  Jackson,  Plainfield,  N.  J. 

Cuba,  one  acre,  owned  by  M.  Chauncey,  Brooklyn. 

Devil's  Oven,  one  acre,  owned  by  H.  R.  Heath,  Brooklyn. 

Sunny  side,  Cherry  Island,  live  acres,  Rev.  George  Rockwell,  Tarry- 
town. 

Melrose  Lodge,  Cherry  Island,  owned  by  A.  B.  Pullman  estate, 
Chicago. 

Ingleside,  Cherry  Island,  owned  by  Mrs.  G.  B.  Marsh,  Chicago. 

Stujvesant  Lodge,  Cherry  Island,  owned  by  J.  T.  Easton,  Brooklyn. 

Safe  Point,  Wells'  Island,  four  acres,  Rev.  R.  H.  Pullman,  Balti- 
more. 

Pullman  Island,  three  acres,  owned  by  Geo.  M.  Pullman,  Chicago. 

Nobby  Island,  three  acres,  owned  by  H.  R.  Heath,  Brooklyn. 

Little  Angel,  one-quarter  acre,  owned  by  W.  A.  Angell,  Chicago. 

E<lgewood  Park,  thirty  acres,  owned  by  S.  W.  Sessions,  Cleve- 
land, O. 

Edgewood  Point,  one  acre,  owned  by  G.  C.  Martin,  Watertown. 

West  View,  one  acre,  owned  by  S.  G.  Pope,  Ogdensburg. 

Welcome,  one  acre,  owned  by  S.  G.  Pope,  Ogdensburg. 

Friendly  Island,  three  acres,  owned  by  E.  W.  Dewey,  New  York. 

Linlithgow,  one-half  acre,  owned  by  Mrs.  R.  A.  Livingston,  New 
York. 

Florence,  two  acres,  owned  by  H.  S.  Chandler,  New  York. 

St.  Elmo,  three  acres,  owned  by  N.  W.  Hunt,  Brooklyn. 

Felseneck,  owned  by  Prof.  A.  G.  Hopkins,  Clinton,  N.  Y. 

Point  Lookout,  one  acre,  owned  by  Miss  S.  J.  Bullock,  Adams. 

Vilula  Point,  one-half  acre,  owned  by  Capt.  F.  Dana. 

Isle  Imperial,  one  acre,  owned  by  G.  T.  Rafferty,  Pittsburg. 

Fern  Island,  one  acre,  owned  by  J.  Winslow,  Watertown. 

Hart's  Island,  five  acres,  owned  by  E.  K.  Hart's  estate,  Albion, 
N.  Y. 

Desliler,  fifteen  acres,  owned  by  W.  G.  Deshler,  Columbus,  O. 

Netts,  one  acre,  owned  by  Wm.  B.  Hayden,  Columbus,  O. 

Bonny  Castle,  fifteen  acres,  owned  by  Mrs.  J.  G.  Holland,  New 
York. 

Crescent  Cottage,  ten  acres,  owned  by  B.  Van  Wagoner,  New  York. 


I 


:ago. 

,  Rochester. 

Chicago. 


The  Rambler. 


87 


^ell,  Tarry- 

lan  estate, 

hicago. 
Brooklyn, 
an,  Balti- 

,  Chicago, 
flyn. 

I^hicago. 
IS,  Cleve- 

>rtown. 


?w  York, 
ton,  New 


ams. 

g. 

Albion, 
,  O. 

d,  New 
V  York. 


Point  Marguerite,  thirty  acres,  owned  by  Mrs.  E.  Anthony,  New 
York. 

The  Ledges,  owned  by  Mrs.  C.  J.  Hudson,  New  York. 

Long  Branch,  ten  acres,  owned  by  Mrs.  C.  E.  Clark,  Watertown. 

Manhattan  Island,  five  acres,  owned  by  Hon.  J.  C.  Silencer,  New 
York. 

Maple  Island,  six  acres,  owned  by  John  L.  Hasbrouck,  New  York. 

St.   John  Island,  six   acres,  owned  by  Hon.  Charles  O'Donohue, 
New  York. 

Fairyland  Island,  twenty  acres,  owned  by  Charles  and  William  B. 
Hayden,  Columbus,  O. 

Little  Fraud  Island,  one- half  acre,  owned  by  R.  H.  Pease,  New 
York. 

Huguenot  Island,  two  acres,  owned  by  L.  Hasbrouck,  Ogdensburg. 

Resort  Island,  three  acres,  owned  by  W.  J.  Lewis,  Pittsburg. 

Deer  Island,  twenty  acres,  owned  by  Geo.  D.  Miller,  New  York. 

Island  Mary,  two  acres,  owned  by  Geo.  A.  Lance,  Watertown. 

Walton  Island,  seven  acres,  owned  by  N.  J.  Robinson,  New  York. 

Idle  wild,  four  acres,  owned  by  Mrs.  R.  A.  Packer,  Sayre,  Pa. 

Sport  Island,  four  acres,  owned  by  E.  P.  Wilbur,  Mauch  Chunk,  Pa. 

Little  Lehigh,  one  acre,  owned  by  R.  H.  Wilbur,  Bethlehem,  Pa. 

Summer  Side,  two  acres,  owned  by  W.  Stevenson,  Sayre,  Pa. 

Summerland,  ten  acres,  owned  by  Summerland  Association,  Roch- 
ester. 

Arcadia  and  Ina  Islands,  five  acres,  owned  by  S.  A.  Briggs,  New 
York. 

Spuyten  Duyvel,  one  acre,  owned  by  Alice  P.  Sargent,  New  York. 

Douglass,  five  acres,  owned  by  Douglas  Miller,  New  York. 

Kit  Grafton,  one-half  acre,  owned  by  Mrs.  S.  L.  George, Watertown. 

Lookout,  two  acres,  owned  by  Thos.  H.  Bordin,  New^  York. 

Ella,  one-half  acre,  owned  by  R.  E.  Hungerford,  Watertown. 

Little  Charm,  one  quarter  acre,  owned  by  Mrs.  F.  W.  Barker, 
Alexandria  Bay. 

Frost,  two  acres,  owned  by  Mrs.  S.  L.  Frost,  Watertown . 

Excelsior  Group,  five  acres,  owned  by  C.  S.  Goodwin,  New  York. 

Sylvan  and  Moss  Islands,  three  acres,  owned  by  S.  T.  Woolworth, 
Watertown. 

Elephant  Rock,  one-quarter  acre,  owned  by  T.  C.   Chittenden, 
Watertown.  • 


38 


The  Rambler. 


Sunbeam  Group,  one  acre,  owned  l)y  A.  B.  Plielan. 
Alice,  two  acres,  owned  by  Col.  A.  J.  Casse,  New  York. 
Schooner,  six  acres,  owned  by  J.  N.  Whitehouse,  New  York. 


List  of  Post-offices  Among  the  Thousand  Islands,  dur- 
ing the  Season. 

Thurso;  Grindstone  Island. 

Clayton. 

Round  Island  (summer  only). 

Grinnell's  (summer  only). 

Thousand  Island  Park. 

Fisher's  Landing. 

St.  Lawrence  Park  (summer  only). 

Point  Vivian  (summer  only). 

Westminster  Park  (summer  only). 

Alexandria  Bay. 

Grand  View  Park  (summer  only). 


I 


Table  of  dii 

To  Montreal 

stances  f 

148  miles 
36     " 
24     " 
24     " 
12     " 

2  " 

3  " 

6  " 

7  " 
7     " 

12     " 
10     " 
12     " 
12     " 

rom  Alexandria 

To  Riverview 

Bay. 

20  r"il*'« 

To  Ogdensburg 

To  Morristown 

To  Brockville 

To  Chippewa  Bay 

To  Point  Vivian 

To  Carleton  Island 
To  Cape  Vincent.. 
To  Gananoque  . . . 

To  Kingston 

To  New  York 

...      23 
28 
...       19 
...       34 
...     356 

(( 
<( 
<< 

To  St.  Lawrence  Park 

To  Fine  View 

ToT.  I.  Park 

To  Fishers'  Landing . . 
To  Pullman  House  . . . 
To  Grand  View  Park 

To  Boston . . . 

To  Philadelphia  . . . 

To  Saratoga 

To  Chicaero 

...     339 
...     447 
...     239 
...     812 

To  Niagara  Falls  . . 
To  Toronto 

. . .     298 
...     185 

<( 
(< 

To  Round  Island  .... 

To  Clayton 

To  Prospect  Park  .... 

To  Syracuse 

To  Utica 

...     122 
...     119 

•  ( 
<< 

To  Rochester 

...     213 

<( 

■ 


The  Rambler. 


39 


York. 


»ds,  dur- 


20 

miles 

23 

(< 

28 

<( 

19 

(( 

34 

(( 

156 

(( 

39 

(( 

47 

<( 

39 

<{ 

12 

<• 

98 

(< 

35 

ft 

12 

•( 

[9 

f« 

3 

«« 

A  few  "Dou'ts"  for  Excursionists. 

Don't  be  in  too  great  a  hurry,  you  will  get  along  easier. 

Don't  rush  to  get  on  board  the  steamer  until  the  passengers  are 
off,  and  then  you  can  get  on  board  without  rushing. 

Don't  push,  and  jam,  and  crowd,  either  in  going  ashore  or  aboard  ; 
you  only  hinder  and  delay. 

Don't  stop  to  gossip  on  the  gang-plank,  it  blocks  the  passage  and 
delays  others. 

Don't  act  as  though  you  thought  that  other  people  had  no  rights 
which  ycu  were  bound  to  respect. 

Don't  act  as  though  you  belong  to  the  genus  Sua,  lest  people 
believe  it. 

Don't  crowd  to  the  forward  part  of  the  boat ;  the  after  part  passes 
the  same  objects  of  interest. 

Don't  stand  up,  so  that  those  back  of  you  can  see  nothing — it  is 
extremely  ill  mannered. 

Don't  try  to  gather  in  all  the  easy  chairs  just  for  your  party  —  it 
looks  selfish. 

Don't  be  continually  grumbling,  you  annoy  others  and  do  yourself 
no  good. 

Don't  be  too  critical  about  the  running  of  the  boat ;  in  all  proba- 
bility, those  who  have  charge  of  it  are  as  well  informed  in  regard  to 
their  business  as  you  are. 

Don't  berate  an  employe,  because  of  some  fault  you  think  the 
<;oinpany  has  committed  —  it  is  inconsistent. 

Don't  fail  to  treat  others  with  that  consideration  with  which  you 
would  like  to  have  them  treat  you,  and  then  all  will  go  well. 

You  have  often  heard  it  said  that  such  a  one  "  could  be  a  gentle- 
man, if  he  chose  ; "  you  may  rest  assured  that  if  any  one  can  be  a 
gentleman  (or  lady)  he  or  she  is  pretty  certain  to  he  one;  so,  when  on 
an  excursion  don't  be  anything  else,  lest  people  thinking  that  you 
4ian  be  but  will  not ;  attribute  your  actions  to  pure  and  unadulterated 
* '  cussedness, "  and  treat  you  accordingly. 


40 


The  Rambler. 


Ml*.  John  A.  Haddock's  Great  Balloon  Voyage  Witli 

Professor  LaMouiitaiii. 

When  the  writer  was  in  school  at  the  Sulphur  Springs  in  Hounds- 
field,  under  Professor  Morsman,  there  were  two  kinds  of  English 
Readers  then  published  by  the  firm  of  Knowlton  &  Rice,  one  con- 
taining Jaius  Rich's  story  of  his  fight  with  the  panther  on  Blulf  Rock, 
belov/  Theresa,  the  other  edition  failing  to  contain  that  narrativ«». 
The  book  witli  the  panther  story  was  eagerly  sought  and  devoured 
by  all  the  children  who  could  read,  while  the  other  edition  was  not 
by  any  means  regarded  with  affection.  The  intense  impression 
made  by  that  panther  story  upon  my  own  mind  and  upon  that  of  the 
other  scholars,  has  been  a  matter  of  recollection  through  the  sixty 
years  which  have  elapsed.  For  that  reason  the  author  of  this  His- 
tory has  yielded  to  urgent  solicitation,  and  presents  below  the  story 
of  his  great  aerial  voyage  in  1859  with  John  LaMountain,  one  of  the 
longest  voyages  ever  made  in  a  balloon.  The  writer  appears  to  be 
best  remembered  by  that  perilous  episode,  especially  among  those 
who  are  now  the  business  men  of  Jefferson  county,  but  who  were 
then  eager,  pushing  lads,  nearly  crazy  over  the  balloon  fever,  which 
was  at  that  time  violent  in  Northern  New  York.  Perhaps  the  most 
important  result  attained  by  that  dismal  balloon  experience  may  be 
found  in  the  article  following  this  account,  whicli  relates  to  the 
'*  Awakening  of  Henry  Backus.  " 

The  interest  aroused  by  this  balloon  trip  was  surprising  and 
almost  phenomenal,  my  account  being  published  at  length  in  nearly 
every  English  newspaper.  Perhaps  the  story  illustrates  fortitude 
under  trying  circumstances  and  under  the  agonizing  strain  experi- 
enced in  the  uncertainty  which  surrounded  LaMountain  and  myself 
when  toiling  in  that  wildernes.  In  that  light  it  may  be  regarded  as 
an  object  lesson,  not  altogether  to  be  lost  upon  those  who  are  to 
come  after  us. 

THE  ACCOUNT. 

It  is  now  about  thirty-five  years  since  the  undersigned  made  the 
memorable  balloon  voyage  with  Professor  LaMountain — a  voyage 
intended  to  be  short  and  pleasant,  but  which  resulted  in  a  long  and 
most  disastrous  one,  entailing  the  loss  of  the  valuable  balloon,  and 
seriously  endangering  the  lives  of  the  travellers.     Since  then,  La- 


The  Rambler. 


41 


With 


e  tlie 
)yage 
and 
,  and 
,  La- 


Mountain,  after  serving  through  the  great  rebellion,  has  made  his 
last  "  voyage,  "  and  has  entered  upon  that  existence  where  all  the 
secrets  of  the  skies  are  as  well  defined  and  understootl  as  are  the 
course  of  rivers  here  on  earth. 

To  fully  understand  my  reasons  for  making  the  trip,  some  leading 
facts  should  be  presented: 

1.  There  had  been,  all  through  the  year  1859,  much  excitement  in 
the  public  mind  upon  the  subject  of  ballooning.  In  August  of  that 
year  I  returned  from  Labrador,  and  found  that  the  balloon  Atlantic, 
with  Wise,  Hyde,  Gaeger  and  LaMountain,  had  been  driven  across 
a  part  of  Lake  Ontario,  while  on  their  great  trip  from  St  Louis  to 
New  York  city,  an.l  had  landed  and  been  wrecked  in  Jefferson 
county,  N.  Y.,  and  the  people  of  that  whole  section  were  conse- 
quently in  a  state  of  considerable  excitement  upon  the  subject  of 
navigating  the  air.* 

2.  I  had  heard  of  other  newspaper  editors  making  trips  in  balloons; 
had  read  their  glowing  accounts,  and  it  seemed  to  me  like  a  very 
cunning  thing.  Desiring  to  enjoy  *•' all  that  was  a-going,"  I  natu- 
rally wanted  a  balloon  ride  too,  and  therefore  concluded  to  go,  ex- 
pecting to  be  absent  from  home  not  more  than  ten  or  twelve  hours 
at  the  longest,  and  to  have  a  good  time.  Being  a  newspaper  man, 
and  always  on  the  alert  for  news,  I  had  also  a  natural  desire  to  do 
all  in  my  power  to  add  to  the  local  interest  of  my  journal,  and  for 

*  The  Wise  named  above  was  the  celebrated  aei'onaut.  Professor 
John  Wise,  of  Lancaster,  Pa.;  and  I  may  here  remark  that  the  trip 
made  by  him  and  his  associates  is  by  far  the  longest  on  recorcf. 
Leaving  St.  Louis  at  about  4  P.  M.  they  passed  the  whole  night  in  the 
air,  were  carried  across  tlie  States  of  Illinois,  Indiana,  a  portion  of 
Ohio  and  Michigan,  over  the  whole  northwestern  breadth  of  Pennsyl- 
vania  and  New  York,  and  were  at  last  wrecked  in  a  huge  tree-top 
near  the  shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  at  about  3  P.  M.  the  next  day.  escap- 
ing with  severe  bruises  but  without  broken  bones,  after  a  journey  of 
eleven  hundred  miles.  These  adventurers  did  not  trav€»l  a.s  fast,  nor 
encounter  the  perils  that  awaited  us,  but  they  made  a  longer  voyage. 
It  was  with  this  same  balloon  Atlantic  that  LaMountain  and  myself 
made  our  trip,  but  it  had  been  reduced  one  third  in  size,  and  was  as 
good  as  new.  John  Wise  afterwards  lost  his  life  in  a  balloon,  but 
just  where  he  perished  was  never  known.  Gaeger  was  a  manufacturer 
of  crockery,  and  he  died  in  Massachusetts  Hyde  is  publishing  a 
newspaper  in  one  of  the  western  States.  LaMountain  died  in  his  bed 
at  Lansmgburgh.  N.  Y.,  about  1884. 


42 


The  Rambler. 


that  reason  felt  a  willingness  to  go  through  with  more  fatigue  and 
hazard  than  men  are  expected  to  endure  in  ordinary  business 
pursuits, 

8.  I  felt  safe  iu  going,  as  I  knew  tliat  LaMountain  was  an  intrepid 
and  su{;oes3ful  aeronaut,  aiul  I  tiiought  his  jiidguieiit  was  to  be 
depended  upon.  How  he  was  misled  as  to  distance,  anJ  how  little 
he  knew,  or  any  man  can  know,  of  air  navigation,  the  narrative  will 
readily  demonstrate. 

With  these  explanations,  I  will  proceed  with  my  original  narra- 
tive, nearly  as  written  out  at  the  time. 

Nearly  every  one  in  Watertown  is  aware  tliat  the  second  ascension 
of  the  baloon  Atlantic  was  advertised  for  the  20th  of  September, 
1859.  The  storni  of  that  and  the  following  day  obliged  the  postpone- 
ment of  the  ascension  until  the  22d.  Every  arrangement  had  been 
made  for  a  successful  inflation,  and  at  twenty-seven  minutes  before 
6  P.  M.  the  glad  words,  "all  aboard,"  were  heard  from  LaMountain, 
and  that  distinguished  aeronaut  and  myself  stepped  into  the  car. 
Many  were  the  friendly  hands  wo  shook— many  a  fervent  "God  bless 
you,"  and  "  happy  voyage,"  were  uttered  —  and  many  hankerchiefs 
waved  their  mute  adieus.  "  Let  go  all,"  and  aw.iy  we  soared;  in  an 
instant  all  minor  sounds  of  earth  had  ceased,  and  we  were  lifted 
into  a  silent  sphere,  whose  shores  were  without  an  echo,  their  silence 
equaled  only  by  that  of  the  grave.  No  feeling  of  trepidation  was 
experienced:  an  extraordinary  elation  took  possession  of  us,  and  fear 
was  as  far  removed  as  though  we  had  been  sitting  in  our  own  rooms 
at  home. 

Two  or  three  things  struck  me  as  peculiar  in  looking  down  from 
an  altitude  of  half  a  mile:  the  small  appearance  of  our  village  from 
such  a  height  and  the  beautiful  mechanical  look  which  the  straight 
fences  and  oblong  square  fields  of  the  farmers  present.  As  we  rose 
into  the  light,  fleecy  clouds,  they  looked  between  us  and  the  earth 
like  patches  of  snow  we  see  lying  upon  the  landscape  in  spring-time; 
but  when  we  rose  a  little  higher  the  clouds  completely  shut  out  the 
earth,  and  the  cold,  white  masses  below  us  had  precisely  the  same 
look  that  a  mountainous  snow-covered  country  does,  as  you  look 
down  upon  it  from  a  higher  mountain.  Those  who  have  crossed  the 
Alps  —  or  have  stood  upon  one  of  the  lofty  ftumm its  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  and  gazed  down  upon  the  eternal  snows  below  and  around 
them,  will  be  able  to  catch  the  idea.     In  six  minutes  we  were  far 


I 


The  Rambler. 


48 


;igue  and 
busiiiess 

1  intrepid 
as  to  be 
low  little 
itive  will 

al  narra- 

iscension 
pteniber, 
jostpone- 
tiad  been 
B8  before 
[ountain, 

the  car. 
jrod  bless 
kerchiefs 
}d;  in  an 
3re  lifted 

r  silence 
tion  was 

and  fear 

u  rooms 

11  from 

ce  from 

raight 

Iwe  rose 

lie  earth 

|g-time; 

)ut  the 

same 

)u  look 

Ised  the 

Sierra 

u'ound 

lere  far 


above  all  the  clouds,  and  the  sun  and  we  were  face  to  face.  We  saw 
the  time  after  that  when  his  face  would  have  been  very  welcome  to 
us.  In  eight  minutes  after  leaving  the  earth,  the  thermometer 
showed  a  fall  of  24  degrees.  It  stood  at  84  when  we  left.  The  bal- 
loon rotated  a  good  deal,  proving  that  were  ascending  with  great 
rapidity.  At  5:48  thermometer  stood  at  42,  and  falling  very  fast. 
At  5:50  we  were  at  least  two  miles  high  —  thermometer  34. 

An  unpleasant  ringing  sensation  had  now  become  painful,  and  I 
filled  both  ears  with  cotton.  At  5:52  we  put  on  our  gloves  and 
shawls  —  thermometer  32.  The  wet  sandbags  now  became  stiff  with 
cold  — they  were  frozen.  Ascending  very  rajHdly.  At  5:54  ther- 
mometer 28,  and  falling.  Here  we  caught  our  la.st  sight  of  the  earth 
by  daylight,  I  recognized  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  south-west  of  us, 
which  showed  we  were  drifting  nearly  north.  At  6  o'clock  we 
thought  we  were  descending  a  little,  and  LaMountain  directed  me 
to  throw  out  about  20  pounds  of  ballast.  This  shot  us  up  again  — 
thermometer  2(>,  and  falling  very  slowly.  At  6:05  thermometer  22 — 
my  feet  were  very  cold.  The  Atlantic  was  now  full,  and  presented 
a  mo.st  splendid  sight.  The  gas  began  to  discharge  itself  at  the 
mouth,  and  its  abominable  smell,  as  it  came  down  upon  us,  made 
me  sick.  A  moment's  vomiting  helped  my  case  materially.  La- 
Mountain  was  suffering  a  good  deal  with  cold.  I  i)asHed  my  thick 
shawl  around  his  slioulders,  and  put  the  blanket  over  our  knees  and 
feet.  At  6:10  thermometer  18.  We  drifted  along  until  the  sun  left 
us,  and  in  a  short  time  thereafter  the  balloon  began  to  descend.  We 
must  have  been,  l)efore  we  began  to  descend  from  this  height,  3^ 
miles  liigli.  At  6  :  22  thermometer  23 ;  rising.  We  were  now  about 
stationary,  and  thought  we  were  sailing  north  of  east.  We  could, 
we  thought,  distinguish  water  below  us,  but  were  unable  to  recog- 
nize it.  At  G  :38  we  threw  over  a  bag  of  sand,  making  80  pounds 
of  ballast  discharged,  and  leaving  about  120  pounds  on  hand.  We 
distintly  heard  a  dog  bark.  Thermometer  28  —  and  rising  rapidly. 
At  6  :  4")  the  thermometer  stood  at  33. 

At  0  :  50  it  was  dark,  and  I  could  make  no  more  memoranda.  I 
put  up  my  note  book,  pencil  and  watch,  and  settled  down  in  the  bas- 
ket, feeling  quiet  contented.  From  this  point  until  next  mornin£-  1 
give  my  experiences  from  memory  only.  The  figures  given  were 
made  at  the  times  indicated,  and  the  thermometric  variations  can  be 
depended  on  as  quite  accurate. 


44 


The  Rambler. 


We  heard,  soon  after  dark,  a  locomotive  whistle,  and  occasionally 
could  hear  wagons  rumbling  over  the  ground  or  a  bridge,  while  the 
farmers'  dogs  kept  up  a  continual  baying,  as  if  conscious  there  was 
something  unusual  in  the  sky.  We  sailed  along,  contented  and 
chatty,  until  about  half -past  eight  o'clock,  when  we  distinctly  saw 
lights  below  us,  and  heard  the  roaring  of  a  mighty  water- fall.  We 
descended  into  a  valley  near  a  very  high  mountain,  but  as  the  place 
appeared  rather  forbidding,  we  concluded  to  go  up  again.  Over 
with  30  pounds  of  ballast,  and  sky-ward  we  sailed.  In  about  20 
minutes  we  again  descended,  but  this  time  no  friendly  light  greeted 
us.  We  seemed  to  be  over  a  dense  wilderness,  and  the  balloon  was 
settling  down  into  a  small  lake.  We  had  our  life-preservers  ready 
for  use.  but  got  up  again  by  throwing  out  all  our  ballast,  except 
perhaps  20  pounds.  LaMountain  now  declared  it  was  folly  to  stay 
up  any  longer,  that  we  were  over  a  great  wilderness,  and  the  sooner 
we  descended  tlie  better.  We  concluded  to  settle  down  by  the  side 
of  some  tall  tree,  tie  up,  and  wait  until  morning.  In  a  moment  we 
were  near  the  earth,  and  as  we  gently  descended  I  grasped  the  ex- 
treme top  of  a  high  spruce,  which  stopped  the  balloo.i's  momentum, 
and  we  were  soon  lashed  to  tlie  tree  by  our  large  drag-rope. 

We  I'olled  ourselves  up  in  our  blankets,  patiently  waiting  for  the 
morning.  The  cold  rain  spouted  down  upon  us  in  rivulets  from  the 
great  balloon  that  lazily  rolled  from  side  to  side  over  our  heads,  and 
we  were  soon  drenched  and  uncomfortable  as  men  could  be.  After 
a  night  passed  in  great  apprenh.ension  and  unrest,  we  were  right 
glad  to  see  the  first  faint  rays  of  coming  light.  Cold  and  rainy  the 
morning  at  last  broke,  the  typical  precursor  of  other  dismal  morn- 
ings to  be  spent  in  that  uninhabited  wilderness.  We  waited  until  6 
o'clock  in  hopes  the  rain  would  cease,  and  that  the  rays  of  the  sun, 
by  warming  and  thereby  expanding  the  gas  in  the  balloon,  would 
give  us  ascending  power  sufficient  to  get  up  again,  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  a  view  of  the  country  into  which  we  had  descended. 
The  rain  did  not  cease,  and  we  concluded  to  throw  over  all 
we  had  in  the  balloon,  except  a  coat  for  each,  the  life-preserv- 
ers, the  anchor  and  the  compass.  Overboard,  then,  they  went 
—  good  shawls  and  blankets,  bottles  of  ale  and  a  flask  of  cor- 
dial, ropes  and  traps  of  all  kinds.  The  Atlantic,  relieved  of  this  wet 
load,  rose  majestically'  with  us,  and  we  were  able  to  behold  the 
country  below.     It  was  an  unbroken  wilderness  of  lakes  and  spruce 


The  Rambler. 


45 


—  and  I  began  to  fully  realize  that  we  had  indeed  gone  too  far, 
through  a  miscalculation  of  the  velocity  of  the  balloon.  As  tlie  cur- 
rent was  still  driving  us  towards  the  north,  we  dare  not  stay  up,  as 
we  were  drifting  still  farther  and  farther  into  trouble.  LaMoiin- 
tain  seized  the  valve-cord  and  discharged  gas,  and  we  descended  in 
safety  to  the  solid  earth.  Making  the  Atlantic  fast  by  her  anchor, 
we  considered  what  was  to  be  done. 

We  had  not  a  mouthful  to  eat,  no  protection  at  night  from  the 
wet  ground,  were  distant  we  knew  not  how  far  from  any  habita- 
tion, were  hungry  to  start  with,  had  no  possible  expectation  of 
making  a  fire,  and  no  definite  or  satifactory  idea  as  to  where  we 
were.  We  had  not  even  a  respectable  pocket  knife,  nor  a  pin  to 
make  a  fish  liook  of —indeed  we  were  about  as  well  equipped  for  for- 
est life  as  were  the  babes  in  the  woods. 

After  a  protracted  discussion,  in  which  all  our  ingenuity  was 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  question  of  our  whereabouts,  we  settled  in 
our  minds  (mainly  from  the  character  of  the  timber  around  us),  that 
we  were  either  in  John  Brown's  tract,  or  in  that  wilderness  lying  be- 
tween Ottawa  City  and  Prescott,  Canada.  If  tliis  were  so,  then  we 
knew  that  a  course  south  by  east  would  take  us  out  if  wo  had 
strength  enough  to  travel  the  distance. 

TRAMPING  IN   THE  WOODS. 

Acting  upon  our  conclusion,  we  started  through  the  woods  toward 
the  south-east.  After  traveling  about  a  mile  we  catue  to  the  l)ank 
of  a  small  stream  flowing  frotn  the  west,  and  were  agreeably  sur- 
prised to  find  that  some  human  being  had  been  there  before  us, 
for  we  found  the  stumps  of  several  small  trees  and  the  head  of  a 
half-barrel,  which  -contained  pork.  I  eagerly  examined  the  inspec- 
tion stamp ;  it  read  : 

"MESS  PORK," 

"P.  M." 

"Montreal." 

This  settled  the  question  that  we  were  in  Canada,  as  I  well  knew 
that  no  Montreal  inspection  of  pork  ever  found  its  way  into  the 
State  of  New  York.  Although  the  course  wo  had  adopted  was  to  be 
a  south-easterly  one,  we  yet  concluded  to  follow  this  creek  to  the 
westward,  and  all  day  Friday  we  travelled  up  its  banks  —  crossing  it 


46 


The  Rambler. 


about  noon  on  a  floating  log,  and  striking  on  the  southern  shore  a 
"blazed"  path,  which  led  to  a  deserted  lumber  road,  and  it  in  turn 
bring  us  to  a  log  shanty  on  the  opposite  bank.  We  had  hoped  this 
lumber  road  would  lead  out  into  a  clearing  or  a  settlement,  but  a 
careful  examination  satisfied  us  that  the  road  ended  here,  its  objec- 
tive point  evidently  being  the  shanty  on  the  other  bank.  We  con- 
cluded to  cross  tho  creek  to  the  shanty,  and  stay  there  all  night. 
Collecting  some  small  timbers  for  a  raft,  LaMountain  crossed  over 
safely,  shoving  the  raft  back  to  me.  But  my  weight  was  greater 
than  my  companion's,  and  the  frail  structure  sank  under  me,  pre- 
cipitating me  into  the  water.  I  went  in  all  over,  but  swam  out, 
though  it  took  all  my  strength  to  do  so.  On  reaching  the  bank  I 
found  myself  so  chilled  as  scarcely  to  be  able  to  stand.  I  took  off 
all  my  clothes  and  wrung  them  as  dry  as  I  could.  We  then  pro- 
ceeded to  the  shanty,  where  we  found  some  refuse  straw,  but  it  was 
dry,  and  under  a  pile  of  it  we  crawled  —  pulling  it  over  our  heads 
and  faces,  in  the  hope  that  our  breath  might  aid  in  warming  our 
chilled  bodies.  I  ihink  the  most  revengeful,  stony  heart  would  have 
pitied  our  condition  then.  I  will  not  attempt  to  describe  our 
thoughts  as  we  lay  there  ;  home,  children,  wife,  parents,  friends, 
with  their  sad  and  anxious  faces,  rose  up  reproachfully  before  us  as 
we  tried  to  sleep.  But  the  weary  hours  of  night  at  last  wore  away, 
and  at  daylight  we  held  a  new  council.  It  was  evident,  we  argued, 
that  the  creek  we  were  upon  was  used  by  the  lumbermen  for  "  driv- 
ing "  tlieir  logs  in  the  spring  freshets.  If,  then,  we  followed  it  to  its 
confluence  with  the  Ottawa  or  some  stream  whioh  emptied  into  the 
Ottawa,  we  would  eventually  get  out  the  same  way  the  timber  went 
out.  The  roof  of  the  shanty  was  covered  with  the  halves  of  hollow 
logs,  scooped  out  in  a  manner  familiar  to  all  vvoodsmen.  These 
were  dry  and  light,  and  would  make  us  an  excellent  raft.  Why  not, 
then,  take  four  of  these,  tie  them  to  cross-pieces  by  vvythes  and  such 
odd  things  as  we  could  find  around  the  shanty,  and  pole  the  craft 
down  stream  to  that  civilization  which  even  a  saw-log  appeared  able 
to  reach  Such,  then,  was  the  plan  adopted,  although  it  involved 
the  retracing  of  all  the  steps  hitherto  taken,  and  an  apparent  depart- 
ure frojn  the  course  we  had  concluded  would  lead  us  out. 

Without  delay,  then,  we  dragged  the  hollow  logs  down  to  the 
creek,  and  LaMountain  proceeded  to  tie  them  together,  as  he  was 
more  of  a  sailor  than  myself.     We  at  last  got  under  way,  and  as  we 


The  Rambli:r. 


pushed  off,  a  miserable  crow  set  up  a  dismal  cawing  —  an  inauspici- 
ous sign  We  poled  down  the  stream  about  a  mile,  when  we  came 
abruptly  upon  a  large  pine  tree  whicli  had  fallen  across  the  current, 
completely  blocking  the  passage  of  the  raft.  No  other  course  was 
left  us  but  to  untie  the  raft,  and  push  the  pieces  through  under  the 
log.  This  was  at  last  accomplished,  when  we  tied  our  craft  together 
again,  and  poled  down  the  stream.  To-day  each  of  us  ate  a  raw  frog 
(all  we  could  find),  and  began  to  realize  that  we  were  hungry.  Yet 
there  was  no  complaining  —  our  talk  was  of  the  hopeful  future, 
and  of  the  home  and  civilization  we  yet  expected  to  reach.  Down 
the  creek  we  went,  into  a  lake  some  four  miles  long,  and  into 
which  we  of  course  supposed  tlie  stream  to  pass,  witli  its  outlet  at 
the  lower  end.  We  followed  down  the  northern  bank,  keeping 
always  near  the  shore  and  in  shallow  water,  so  that  our  poles  could 
touch  the  bottom,  until  we  reached  the  lower  extremity  of  tlie  lake, 
where  we  found  no  outlet,  and  so  turned  back  upon  the  southern 
shore  in  quest  of  one.  On  reaching  the  head  of  the  lake,  and  examin- 
ing the  stream  attentively,  we  found  that  the  current  of  the  creek 
turned  abrujjtly  to  the  right,  whicli  was  the  reason  of  our  losing  it. 
We  felt  happy  to  have  foimd  our  current  again,  and  plied  our  poles 
like  heroes  W<^  passed,  late  in  the  afternoon,  the  spot  where  we 
had  at  first  struck  the  creek,  and  where  we  stuck  up  some  dead 
branches  as  a  landmark  which  might  aid  us  in  case  we  should  at  a 
future  tune  attempt  to  save  the  Atlantic. 

When  night  came  on  we  did  not  stop,  but  kept  the  raft  going 
down  through  the  sliades  of  awful  forests,  whose  solemn  stillness 
seemed  to  hide  from  us  the  unrevealed  mystery  of  our  darkening 
future.  During  the  morning  the  rain  had  ceased,  but  about  10 
o'clock  at  night  it  conmienced  again.  We  stopped  the  "  vessel  "  and 
crawled  in  under  some  ''  tag"  alders  on  the  bank,  where  our  extreme 
weariness  enabled  us  to  get  perhaps  half  an  hour's  sleep.  Rising 
again  (for  it  was  easier  to  pole  the  raft  at  night  in  the  rain  down 
vn  unknown  stream  amidst  the  shadows  of  that  awful  forest, 
than  to  lie  on  the  ground  and  freeze),  we  pressed  on  until  per- 
haps three  in  the  morning,  when  pure  extiaustion  compelled 
us  to  stop  again.  This  time  we  found  a  spot  where  the  clayey  bank 
lacked  a  little  of  coming  down  to  the  water.  On  the  mud  we  threw 
our  little  bundle  of  straw,  and  sat  down  with  our  feet  drawn  un 
under  us,  so  as  to  present  as  little  surface  to  the  rain  as  possible. 


48 


The  Rambler. 


r3ut  we  could  not  stand  such  an  uncomfortable  position  long,  and  as 
the  daylight  of  the  Sabbath  broke  upon  us,  we  were  poling  down  the 
stream  in  a  drizzling  rain.  At  8  o'clock  we  reached  a  spot  at  which 
the  stream  narrowed,  rushing  over  large  boulders,  and  between 
rocky  shores.  This  was  trouble  indeed.  To  get  our  raft  down  this 
l^lace  we  regarded  as  well-nigh  hopeless.  We  tied  up  and  examined 
the  shore.  Here,  again,  we  found  unmistakable  marks  left  by  the 
lumbermen,  they  having  evidently  camped  at  tliis  point,  to  be  liandy 
by  in  the  labor  of  getting  the  timber  over  this  bad  spot  in  the  stream. 
The  rapids  were  about  a  third  of  a  mile  long,  and  very  turbulent. 
After  a  protracted  survey  we  descended  tlie  bank,  and  thought  it 
best  to  abandon  our  raft,  and  try  our  luck  on  foot  again.  After 
travelling  about  a  mile,  we  found  the  bank  so  tangled  and  rugged, 
and  ourselves  so  much  exhausted,  that  satisfactory  progress  was 
impossible.  So  we  concluded  to  go  back,  and  if  we  could  get  the 
raft  down,  even  one  piece  at  a  time,  we  would  go  on  with  her — if 
not,  we  would  build  as  good  a  place  as  possible  to  shield  us  from  the 
9old  and  wet,  and  there  await  with  fortitude  tliat  deatli  from  starva- 
tion which  was  beginning  to  be  regarded  as  a  probability.  This  was 
our  third  day  of  earnest  labor  and  distressing  fatigue,  and  in  all 
that  time  we  had  not  ate  an  ounce  of  food,  nor  had  dry  clothing 
upon  us. 

Acting  upon  our  resolution  we  at  once  commenced  to  get  the  raft 
down  the  rapids,  and  I  freely  confess  that  this  was  the  most  trying 
and  laborous  work  of  a  whole  life  of  labor.  The  pieces  would  not 
float  over  a  rod  at  a  time,  before  they  would  stick  on  some  stone 
which  the  low  water  left  above  the  surface;  and  then  you  must  pry 
the  stick  over  in  some  way,  and  pass  it  along  to  the  next  obstruction. 
We  were  obliged  to  get  into  the  stream,  often  up  to  the  middle,  with 
slippery  boulders  beneath  our  feet.  Several  times  I  fell  headlong 
—  completely  using  up  our  comi)ass,  which  now  frantically  pointed 
in  an}^  direction  its  addled  head  took  a  fancy  to.  The  water  had  un- 
glued  the  case,  and  it  was  ruined.  After  long  hours  of  such  labor 
we  got  the  raft  down  and  LaMountain  again  tied  it  together.  Pass- 
ing on,  in  about  an  hour  we  came  to  a  large  lake,  about  ten  miles 
long  by  six  broad.  Artmnd  it  we  must  of  course  pass,  until  we 
should  find  the  desired  outlet.  So  we  turned  up  to  the  right,  and 
pressed  on  with  as  much  resolution  as  we  could  muster.  To-day 
we  found  one  clam,  which  I  insisted  LaMountain  should  eat,  as  he 


The  Rambler. 


49 


was  much  weaker  than  m/self,  and  had  eaten  nothing  on  the  day 
we  we*  it  up. 

Part  of  this  day  LaMountain  slept  upon  tlie  raft,  and  I  was  "  boss 
and  all  hands. "  As  the  poor  fellow  lay  there,  completely  used  up, 
I  saw  that  he  could  not  be  of  much  more  assistance  in  getting  out. 
Erysipelas,  from  which  he  had  previously  suffered,  had  attacked  his 
right  eye;  his  face  was  shriveled  so  that  he  looked  like  an  old  man, 
and  his  clothes  wcie  nearly  torn  from  his  body.  A  few  tears  could 
not  be  restrained,  and  my  prayer  was  for  speedy  deliverance  or 
speedy  death.  While  my  companion  was  asleep,  and  I  busily  pol- 
ing the  raft  along,  I  was  forced  to  the  conclusion,  after  deliberately 
canvassing  all  the  chances,  that  we  were  pretty  sure  to  perish  there 
miserably  at  last.  But  I  could  not  cease  my  efforts  while  I  had 
strength,  and  so  around  the  lake  we  went,  into  all  the  indentations  of 
the  shore,  keeping  always  in  the  shallow  water.  The  day  at  last 
wore  away,  and  we  stopped  at  night  at  a  place  we  thought  least  ex- 
posed to  the  wind.  We  dragged  the  end  of  our  raft  out  of  the  water 
and  laid  down  upon  the  cold  ground.  We  were  cold  when  we  laid 
down,  and  both  of  us  trembled  by  the  hour,  like  men  suffering  from 
a  severe  attack  of  the  ague.  The  wind  had  risen  just  at  night,  and 
the  dismal  surging  of  the  waves  upon  the  shore  formed,  I  thought,  a 
fitting  lullaby  to  our  disturbed  and  dismal  slumbers. 

By  this  time  our  cloth.es  were  nearly  torn  off.  My  pantaloons 
were  split  up  both  legs,  and  the  waistbands  nearly  gone.  My  boots 
were  mere  wrecks,  and  our  mighty  wrestlings  in  the  rapids  had  torn 
the  skin  from  ankles  and  hands.  LaMountain's  hat  had  disappeared; 
the  first  day  out  he  had  thrown  away  his  wollen  drawers  and  stock- 
ings, as  they  dragged  him  down  by  the  weight  of  water  they  ab- 
sorbed. And  so  we  could  sleep  but  little;  it  really  seemed  as  though 
during  this  night  we  passed  through  the  horrors  of  death.  But  at 
daylight  we  got  up  by  degrees,  first  on  one  knee  and  then  on  the  other, 
so  stiff  and  weak  that  we  could  hardly  stand.  Again  upon  the  silent, 
monotonous  lake  we  went  —  following  around  its  shore  for  an  out' 
let.  About  10  o'clock  we  come  to  quite  a  broad  northern  stream, 
which  we  thought  was  the  outlet  we  were  seeking,  and  vve  entered 
it  with  joy,  believing  it  would  take  us  to  our  long  sought  Ottawa. 
Shortly  after  entering  this  stream  it  widened  out  and  began  to  ap- 
pear like  a  mere  lake.  We  poled  up  the  western  shore  for  about 
seven  miles,  but  found  ourselves  again  deceived  as  t<    the  outlet  — 


50 


The  Rambler. 


the  water  we  were  upon  proving  to  be  another  lake  or  bayou.  We 
li;id  gone  into  this  lake  with  the  higliest  hopes,  but  when  we  found 
that  all  the  weary  miles  of  our  morning  travel  had  been  in  vain,  and 
had  '  o  be  retraced,  my  resolution  failed  me  for  a  moment.  Yet  we 
felt  that  our  duty,  as  Christian  men,  was  to  press  forward  as  long  as 
we  could  stand,  and  leave  the  issue  with  a  higher  Power. 

It  had  now  been  four  full  days  since  we  ate  a  meal.  All  we  had 
eaten  in  the  meantime  was  a  frog  apiece,  four  clams  and  a  few  wild 
berries,  whose  acid  propeitios  and  bitter  taste  had  probably  done  us 
more  harm  than  good.  Our  strength  was  beginning  to  fail  very 
fast,  and  our  systems  were  evidently  undergoing  an  extraordinary 
change.  I  did  not  permit  myself  to  think  of  food  —  the  thought  of 
a  well-filled  table  would  have  been  too  much.  My  mind  continually 
dwelt  upon  poor  Strain's  sufferings  on  the  Isthmus  of  Daricn  (then 
lately  published  in  Harper's  Magazine).  He,  too,  was  paddling  a 
raft  down  an  unknown  stream,  half  starved,  and  filled  witli  dread- 
ful forebodings.  But  I  did  not  l)elieve  we  could  hold  out  half  as 
long  as  he  had.  Besides,  he  was  lost  in  a  tropical  country,  where 
all  nature  is  kind  to  man;  he  had  fire-arms  and  other  weapons  with 
which  to  kill  game.  We  were  in  a  cold,  inhospitable  land,  without 
arms  and  utterly  unable  to  build  a  fire.  Strain  was  upon  a  stream 
which  he  knew  would  eventually  bear  him  to  the  sea  and  to  safety; 
while  we  were  upon  waters  whose  flow  we  positively  knew  nothing 
about,  and  vveie  as  much  lost  as  tliough  in  the  mountains  of  the 
moon.  Yet  we  could  not  give  it  up  so,  and  tried  to  summon  up 
fresh  courage  as  troubles  appeared  to  thicken  around  us.  So  we 
turned  the  raft  around  and  poled  it  in  silence  back  toward  the  place 
where  we  had  entered  this  last  lake.  We  had  gone  about  a  mile 
when  we  heard  the  sound  of  a  gun,  quickly  followed  by  a  second  re- 
port. No  sound  was  ever  so  sweet  as  that.  We  halloed  as  loud  as 
we  could  a  good  many  times,  but  could  get  no  response.  We  kept 
our  poles  going  quite  lively,  and  had  gone  about  half  a  mile  when  I 
called  LaMoun tain's  attention  to  what  I  thought  was  smoke  curling 
up  among  the  trees  by  the  side  of  a  hill.  My  own  eyesight  had  be- 
gun to  fail  very  much,  and  I  felt  afraid  to  trust  my  dulled  senses  in  a 
matter  so  vitally  important.  LaMountain  scrutinized  the  shore  very 
closely,  and  said  he  thought  it  was  smoke,  and  that  he  believed  there 
was  also  a  birch  canoe  on  the  shore  below.  In  a  few  moments  the 
blue  smoke  rolled  unmistakably  above  the  tree  tops,  and  we  felt  that 


The  Rambler. 


51 


WE  WERE  SAVED  1 

Such  a  revulaion  of  feeling  was  almost  too  mach.  We  fould 
hardly  credit  our  good  fortune,  for  our  many  bitter  disappointments 
had  taught  us  not  to  be  very  sanguine.  With  the  ends  of  our  ^wles 
we  paddled  the  raft  across  the  arm  of  the  lake,  here  perhaps  three- 
(piarters  of  a  mile  wide,  steering  for  the  canoe.  It  proved  to  be  a 
large  one,  evidently  an  Indian's.  Leaving  LaMountain  to  guard  and 
retain  the  canoe,  in  case  the  Indian  proved  timid  and  desired  to 
escape  from  us,  I  pressed  hurriedly  up  the  bank,  following  the  foot- 
prints I  saw  in  the  damp  soil,  and  soon  came  upon  the  temporary 
shanty  of  a  lumbering  wood,  from  the  rude  chimney  of  which  a 
broad  volume  of  smoke  was  rising.  I  halloed — a  noise  was  heard 
uiside,  and  a  noble-looking  Indian  came  to  the  door.  I  eagerly 
asked  him  if  he  could  speak  French,  as  I  grasped  his  outstretched 
hand.  "Yes,"  he  rei)lied,  "and  English,  too!"  He  drew  me  into 
the  cabin,  and  there  I  saw  tiie  leader  of  the  party,  a  noble-hearted 
Scotchman  named  Angus  Cameron.  I  immediately  told  my  story  ; 
that  we  had  conae  in  there  with  a  balloon,  were  lost,  and  had  been 
over  four  days  without  food  —  eagerly  demanding  to  know  where 
we  were.  Imagine  my  surprise  when  he  said  we  were  one  hundred 
and  eighty  miles  due  north  of  Ottawa,  near  300  miles  from  Water- 
town,  to  reach  which  would  require  more  than  500  miles  of  travel, 
following  the  streams  and  roads.  We  were  in  a  wilderness  as  large 
as  three  States  like  New  York,  extending  from  Lake  Superior  on  the 
west,  to  the  St.  Lawrence  on  the  east,  and  from  Ottawa  on  the 
south,  to  the  Arctic  circle. 

The  party  consisted  of  four  persons  —  Cameron  and  his  assistant, 
and  a  half-breed  Indian  (LaMab  McDougal)  and  his  son.  Their 
savory  dinner  was  ready.  I  immediately  dispatched  the  young 
Indian  for  LaMountain,  who  soon  came  in,  the  absolute  picture  of 
wretchedness.  All  that  the  cabin  contained  was  freely  offered  us, 
and  we  began  to  eat.  Language  is  inadequate  to  express  our  feel- 
ings. Within  one  little  hour  the  clouds  had  lifted  from  our  sombre 
future,  and  we  felt  ourselves  to  be  men  once  more  —  no  longer 
houseless  wanderers  amid  primeval  forests,  driven  by  chance  from 
side  to  side,  but  inspired  by  the  near  certainty  of  seeing  home  again 
and  mingling  with  our  fellows  once  more  in  the  busy  scenes  of 
life. 


52 


The  Rambler. 


We  soon  learned  from  Cameron  that  the  stream  we  had  traversed 
with  our  raft  was  called  Filliraan's  creek  —  the  large  lake  we  were 
then  near  was  called  the  Bos-ke-tong,  and  drains  into  the  Bos-ke- 
tong  river,  which  in  turn  drains  into  the  Gatineau.  The  Gatineau 
joins  the  Ottawa  opposite  the  city  of  that  name,  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment of  Canada.  Cameron  assured  us  that  the  Bos  ke-tong  and 
Gatineau  were  so  rapid  and  broken  that  no  set  of  men  could  get  a 
raft  down,  no  matter  how  well  they  knew  the  country,  nor  how 
much  provisions  they  might  have.  He  regarded  our  deliverance  as 
purely  providential,  and  many  times  remarked  that  we  would  cer- 
tainly have  perished  but  for  seeing  the  smoke  from  his  fire.  He  was 
hunting  timber  for  his  employers,  Gilmour  &  Co.,  of  Ottawa,  and 
was  to  start  in  two  days  down  the  Gatineau  for  his  headquaiters  at 
Desert.  If  we  would  stay  there  until  he  started  we  were  welcome, 
he  said,  to  food  and  accommodations,  and  he  would  take  us  down  to 
Desert  in  his  canoe,  and  at  that  point  we  could  get  Indians  to  take 
us  farther  on.  He  also  said  that  he  had  intended  to  look  for  timber 
on  Filliman's  creek,  near  where  the  balloon  would  be  found,  as  near 
as  we  could  describe  the  locality  to  him,  and  would  try  to  look  it  up 
and  make  the  attempt  to  get  it  to  Ottawa.  This  would  be  a  long  and 
tedious  operation,  as  the  portages  are  very  numerous  betvveen  tlie 
creek  and  Desert — something  over  twenty  —  one  of  them  three 
miles  long.  Over  these  portages,  of  coure,  the  silk  must  be  carried 
on  the  backs  of  Indians. 

After  eating  all  I  dared  to,  and  duly  cautioning  LaMountain  not  to 
hurt  himself  by  over-indulgence,  I  laid  down  to  sleep.  Before  doing 
80,  I  had  one  of  the  men  remove  my  boots,  an  1  when  they  came  otT, 
nearly  the  whole  outer  skin  peeled  off  with  the  stockings.  My  feet 
had  become  parboiled  by  the  continual  soakings  of  four  days  and 
nights,  and  it  was  fully  three  months  before  they  were  cured. 

After  finishing  up  his  business  in  the  vicinity  were  we  found  him, 
on  Friday  morning  (our  ninth  day  from  home),  Cameron  started  on 
his  return.  We  stopped,  on  our  way  up  the  creek,  at  the  spot  where 
we  had  erected  our  landmark  by  which  to  find  the  balloon.  We 
struck  back  for  the  place,  and  in  about  twenty  minutes  found  her, 
impaled  on  the  tops  of  four  smallish  spruce  trees,  and  very  much 
torn.  LaMountain  concluded  to  abandon  her.  He  took  the  valve  as 
a  memento,  and  I  cut  the  letters  "TIC,"  which  had  formed  part  of 
her  name,  and  brouglit  the  strip  of  silk  home  with  me.     We  reached 


The  Rambler. 


63 


what  is  known  as  the  "New  Farm"  on  Friday  night,  and  there 
ended  our  sleeping  on  the  ground.  Up  by  early  dawn,  and  on  again, 
through  the  drenching  rain,  reaching  Desert  on  Saturday  evening. 

At  Desert  we  were  a  g«^)od  deal  troubled  to  obtain  Indians  to  take 
us  further  on.  LaMab  McDougal  had  told  his  wife  about  the  balloon, 
and  she,  being  superstitious  and  ignorant,  had  gossipped  with  the 
other  squaws,  and  told  them  the  balloon  was  a  '"  flying  tlevil."  As 
we  had  travelled  in  this  flying  devil,  it  did  not  require  much  of  a 
stretch  of  Indian  credulity  to  believe  that  if  we  were  not  the  Devil's 
children,  we  must  at  least  be  closely  related.  In  this  extremity  we 
appealed  to  Mr.  Backus,*  a  kind-hearted  American  trader,  who 
agreed  to  procure  us  a  complement  of  redskins,  who  would  take  us. 
to  Alexis  le  Beau's  place  (60  miles  down  the  river),  where  it  was 
tliought  we  could  obtain  horses.  Sunday  morning  (our  eleventh  day 
from  home),  we  started  from  Desert,  and  reached  Alexis  le  Beau's 
just  at  night.  The  scenery  upon  this  part  of  the  route  was  sublime 
and  imposing.  The  primeval  forest  stood  as  grand  and  silent  as 
when  created.  Our  Indians,  too,  surpassed  anything  I  ever  beheld, 
in  physical  vigor  and  endurance.  In  the  day's  run  of  sixty  miles, 
there  were  sixteen  portages  to  be  made.  On  reaching  one  of  these 
places,  they  would  seize  the  canoe  as  quick  as  we  stepped  out  of  it, 
jerk  it  out  of  the  water  and  on  to  their  shoulders  in  half  a  minute, 
and  start  upon  a  dog  trot  as  unconcernedly  as  though  bearing  no 
burthen.  Arriving  at  the  foot  of  the  portage,  they  would  toss  the 
canoe  into  the  stream,  steady  it  until  we  were  seated,  then  spring  in 
and  paddle  away,  gliding  down  the  stream  like  an  arrow.     In  the 


*  Something  (|uite  curious  grew  out  of  m>  naming  Mr.  Henry 
Backus  as  having  assisted  us  at  the  mouth  of  the  Desert  river.  My 
account  was  generally  published  throughout  the  country,  and  some 
ten  days  after  our  return  I  received  a  letter  from  a  lady  in  Massachu- 
setts asking  me  to  describe  to  her  the  man  Backus,  as  that  was  the 
name  of  her  long-absent  son,  who,  twent}'  years  before,  had  disap- 
peared from  home,  and  liad  never  afterwards  been  heard  from.  I 
answered  the  letter  immediately,  and  soon  after  learned  that  the  man 
proved  to  be  her  son,  and  that  he  had  promised  to  come  home. 
What  had  driven  him  away  from  civilization  to  live  among  the  In- 
dians, was  best  known  to  himself.  But  a  man  of  his  generous  im- 
pulses might  have  been  an  oiiiament  to  society,  and  a  blessing  to  his 
friends.  [This  note  was  written  the  next  week  after  we  escaped 
from  the  wilderness.  The  article  following  this  treats  of  Backus' 
experience  quite  exhaustively.] 


54 


The  Rambler. 


morning  we  traveled  fifteen  miles  and  made  seven  portages  in  one 
hour  and  forty  minutes. 

At  Alexis  le  Beau's  we  first  beheld  a  vehicle  denominated  a  '*  buck- 
board  " —  a  wide,  thick  plank  rpa(;hin^  froni  one  bolster  of  the 
wagon  to  the  other,  and  upon  tho  midtilc  of  which  plank  the  seat 
was  placed.  This  sort  of  conveyance  is  often  used  in  new  countries, 
being  very  cheap,  and  within  the  reach  of  ordinary  mechanical  skill. 
Starting  off  as  soon  as  we  could  get  someting  to  eat,  we  travelled  all 
night  through  the  forest,  over  one  of  the  worst  roads  ever  left  unfin- 
ished, and  reached  Brooks'  farm,  a  sort  of  frontier  tavern,  in  the 
early  morning,  where  we  slept  a  couple  of  liours,  and  after  breakfast 
.pressed  on  by  the  rough  frontier  stage  towards  Ottawa. 

While  the  stage  was  stopping  to-day  to  change  horses,  I  picked  up 
a  newspaper  at  Her  Brittanic  Majesty's  colonial  frontier  post-office, 
and  in  it  read  an  account  of  our  ascension  and  positive  loss,  with  a 
rather  flattering  obituary  notice  of  myself.  And  then,  for  the  first 
time,  I  began  to  compreliend  the  degree  of  concern  of  our  protracted 
absence  had  aroused  in  the  public  mind.  And  if  the  public  felt  this 
concern,  what  would  be  the  degree  of  pain  experiencetl  by  wife, 
children,  parents,  friends?  These  reflections  spurred  us  forward  — 
or  rather,  our  money  induced  the  drivers  to  hurry  up  their  horses  — 
and  at  last,  on  the  twelfth  day  of  our  absence,  at  about  five  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  we  jumped  off  the  stage  in  front  of  the  telegraph 
office  in  the  good  city  of  Ottawa,  whence,  in  less  than  five  minutes, 
the  swift  lightning  was  speeding  a  message  to  home  and  friends. 
That  was  a  happy  moment — the  hap])iest  of  all  my  life  —  when  I 
knew  that  within  thirty  minutes  my  family  would  know  of  my 
safety. 

I  do  not  know  how  the  people  of  Ottawa  so  soon  found  out  who 
we  were  —  but  suppose  the  telegraph  operator  perhaps  told  some  one, 
and  that  "  some  one  "  uuist  have  told  the  whole  town,  for  in  less  than 
half  an  hour  there  was  a  tearing,  excited,  happy,  inquisitive  mass  of 
people  in  front  of  the  grand  hotel  there —  the  clerk  of  which,  when 
he  looked  at  our  ragged  clothes  and  bearded  faces,  at  first  thought 
he  "  hadn't  a  single  room  left,"  but,  wJio,  when  he  found  out  that 
we  were  the  lost  balloon  men,  wanted  us  to  have  the  whole  hotel, 
free  and  above  board,  and  had  tea  and  supper  and  lunch,  and  "just 
a  little  private  supper,  you  know  !  "  following  each  other  in  rapid, 
yet  most  acceptable  succession.     The  happy  crowd  in  the  hotel  and 


M 


The  Rambler. 


55 


U|)()n  the  street  were  detennineJ  to  shake  hands  with  us  every  one, 
and  near'.y  all  wanted  to  give  or  loan  uh  money.  Pretty  soon  the 
newspaper  men  and  some  i)ersonal  acMiuaintances  began  to  press 
through  the  crowd,  and  some  cried  while  others  laughed  and  Imz- 
ziihhed.  Indeed,  every  one  acted  as  if  they  had  just  "  found  some- 
thing." And  such  is  human  nature  always,  when  its  noble  sympa- 
thies are  aroused  for  the  suffering  or  distressed. 

Although  the  president  of  the  Ottawa  and  Prescott  Railroad  (Rob- 
ert Bell,  Esq.),  volunteered  to  send  us  on  by  a  special  engine  that 
night,  we  thought  it  best  (inasmuch  as  our  friends  had  been  informed 
of  our  safety),  to  stay  at  C>ttavva  until  morning.  It  did  seem  as 
though  the  generous  people  of  that  city  could  not  do  enough  for  us, 
and  their  kind  attention  and  disintersted  enthusiasm  will  never  be 
forgotten. 

Well,  the  next  morning  we  left  Ottawa,  and  were  quickly  carried 
to  Prescott;  thence  across  the  St.  Lawrence  River  to  Ogdensburg. 
Here  a  repetition  of  the  same  friendly  greetings  took  place;  and  at 
last,  after  a  hearty  dinner,  we  left  for  home,  now  distant  only 
seventy-five  miles  by  rail.  All  along  the  line  of  the  road  we  found 
enthusiastic  crowds  awaiting  our  coming,  and  all  seemed  to  exhibit 
unmistakeable  evidence  of  the  deep  interest  felt  in  our  fate.  At 
Watertown,  which  had  been  my  home  from  boyhood,  the  enthusi- 
asm had  reached  fever  heat,  and  the  whole  town  was  out  to  greet 
the  returning  aeronauts.  They  had  out  the  old  cannon  on  the  Public 
Square,  and  it  belched  forth  the  loudest  kind  of  a  welcome.  My 
family  had,  of  course,  suffered  deeply  by  my  absence.  Everybody 
had  given  us  up  for  dead^  except  my  wife.  I  felt  very  cheap  about 
the  whole  thing,  and  was  quite  certain  that  I  had  done  a  very  foolish 
act.  Not  so  the  people —  they  thought  it  a  big  thing  to  have  gone 
through  with  so  much,  and  yet  come  out  alive. 


Several  general  conclusions  and  remarks  shall  terminate  this  nar- 
rative, already  too  long.  "  Why  did  you  permit  yourselves  to  go  so 
far?"  will  naturall}"^  be  asked.  To  this  inquiry  I  reply,  that  the 
wind  was  exceedingly  light  when  we  ascended;  that  we  were  very 
soon  among  the  clouds,  and  consequently  unable  to  take  cognizanco 
of  our  course,  or  to  judge  how  fast  we  were  travelling.     It  should 


56 


The  Rambler. 


l>e  distinctly  understood  that  when  you  are  sailing  in  a  balloon,  yoy 
are  unconsious  of  motion  and  progress,  unless  you  can  see  the  earth. 

Even  when  you  first  leave  the  earth,  you  seem  to  be  stationary, 
while  the  earth  appears  to  drop  away  from  you .  Nor  can  you,  when 
out  of  sight  of  the  earth,  although  you  may  have  a  compass,  judge 
of  the  direction  you  are  travelling,  i^  travelling  at  all.  In  a  few 
words,  unless  yon  can  see  the  earth,  you  cannot  tell  hoiv  fast  nor 
in  what  direction  you  are  travelling.  This,  perhaps,  better  than  any- 
tiiing  else,  will  explain  why  we  unconsciously  drifted  off  to  lati- 
tudes so  remote.  When  we  arose  above  the  thick  mass  of  clouds, 
before  sundown,  we  undoubtedly  struck  a  rapid  current  that  carried 
us  north-east,  and  after  we  had  travelled  in  this  current  about  an 
hour,  we  probably  struck  another  current,  from  the  variation  of  our 
altitude,  which  bore  us  off  to  the  north-west,  for  the  place  where  we 
landed  is  about  thirty  miles  west  of  due  north  from  where  we  as- 
cended. 

When  we  first  descended  near  the  earth,  and  saw  lights  and  heard 
dogs  barking,  we  should  have  landed.  But  we  were  unwilling  to 
land  at  night  in  a  deep  wood,  even  though  we  knew  that  inliabitants 
were  near  by,  and  we  thought  it  best  to  pick  out  a  better  place. 
This  was  our  error:  and  it  came  near  being  a  fatal  one  to  us  —  it 
was  certainly  so  to  the  balloon.  In  trying  to  find  our  "  better  place  " 
to  land,  we  were  up  longer  than  we  supposed,  and  as  we  were  travel- 
ling in  a  current  that  bore  us  off  to  the  northward  at  the  rate  of  100 
miles  an  hour,  we  soon  reached  a  point  beyond  the  confines  of  civili- 
zation. 


Among  the  very  few  older  residents  of  the  Thousand  Islands  who 
yet  survive,  we  recall  Mr.  Samuel  Grenell,  of  Grenell  Island.  He  is 
a  dignified,  large,  impressive  man,  with  gray  hair,  and  though  well 
along  in  years,  bears  himself  like  a  man  of  40.  He  was  driven  to  a 
residence  among  these  islands  by  actual  i)overty,  all  his  sclitmes  for 
money-making  having  failed.  Having  been  a  hotel  keeper  on  the 
mainland,  noted  for  giving  a  35-cent  meal  for  a  quarter  of  a  dollar, 
he  naturally  drifted  into  that  vocation  when  he  came  to  Grenell 
Island.  Gradually  his  fame  spread  until  his  hotel  became  the  gen- 
eral resort  for  ilmq^  who  came  to  hunt  and  fish.  Having  bargained 
for  several  of  the  islands  near  his  own  place,  good  fortune  enabled 
him  to  pay  for  them,  and  he  is  now  an  independent  man,  out  of  debt, 
and  with  money  and  lands  far  beyond  his  early  expectations.  He 
is  a  wholesome  man  to  know.  His  portrait  and  a  full  biographical 
sketch  mav  be  found  in  Haddock's  "  Souvenir  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
River,"  page  64  G.  He  is  in  evidence  almost  any  day  on  his  dock, 
aiding  the  steamer  men  in  making  a  landing. 


The  Rambler. 


67 


La  Kiie'8  Treaspire». 

(The  gold  seekers  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  A  tala  of  the  Thousand  Islands. ) 
About  four  mileu  west  of  the  Mallorytown  lianding,  on  tlie  north 
shore  of  the  St.  Ijawrence,  at  the  spot  where  the  original  Maliorya 
first  landed,  a  settler  named  William  La  Rue,  but  commonly  known 
'  as  "  Billy"  Larue,  received  a  gmnt  of  lots  15  and  19,  in  all,  550 
acres  of  land,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1802.  "  Billy  "  was,  although 
.  eccentric,  a  man  of  great  energy  and  endurance.  As  a  proof  of  the 
latter  quality,  it  is  related  of  him  that  ho  once  walked  barefooted 
the  whole  distance  to  Cornwall,  that  being  the  nearest  point  at 
which  he  could  procure  sufficient  leather  for  a  pair  of  shoes.  At 
the  point  where  La  Rue  settled,  a  deep  ravine  o[)ened  to  the  river. 
Across  this  he  managed  to  construct  a  dam,  thus  furnishing  him- 
self with  a  most  excellent  water  power,  on  which  he  built  a  mill, 
and,  in  consequence,  grew  in  wealth.  During  the  war  of  1813  his 
mill  was  taken  possession  of  by  the  British  troops,  who  utilized  it 
as  a  means  of  providing  subsistence  for  the  troops. 

Although  his  lands  presented  almost  insuperable  barrier.^  to  agri- 
cultural improvements,  Billy  persevered  in  clearing  away  the 
original  forest,  and,  in  its  stead,  planted  apple,  chestnut  and  walnut 
trees,  so  that  even  now,  at  a  distance  of  almost  a  century  of  time, 
mingled  amongst  pines  of  a  second  growth,  may  now  and  then  be 
found  an  apple  tree,  planted  by  the  hand  of  the  original  owner  of 
the  soil,  "  Billy  "  La  Rue.  But  time  speed  away  and  Billy  toiled  on, 
and  as  he  was  never  known  to  be  at  all  profuse  in  his  expenditures, 
it  was  surmised  that  at  his  death,  which  was  at  a  good  old  age,  he 
was  possessed  of  a  large  amount  of  gold  and  silver,  which,  by  con- 
stant accretions  in  the  imagination  of  his  acquaintances,  grew  into 
fabulous  sums  which  were,  of  course,  buried  somewhere  on  his  es- 
tate; and  thougli  hardly  pressed  at  the  time  of  his  death  to  do  so, 
he  died  and  "  made  no  sign."  Having  no  family,  and  no  heir  nor 
heirs  having  ever  presented  a  claim  to  his  possessions,  the  lands,  in 
time,  reverted  to  the  State,  the  mill  and  dam  rotted  away,  the  once 
cleared  lands  became  covered  with  a  second  growth,  but  the  belief 
in  Billy  La  Rue's  buried  treasures  remained  and  grew  and  multiplied 
more  rapidly  than  did  the  little  groves  of  second-growth  pines 
which  to-day  dot  the  premises,  and  many  have  been  the  excavations 
made,  and  many  the  midnight  searches  at  all  points  around  the 
house,  but  so  far  in  vain.     While  Billy  was  on  his  death  bed,  it  was 


m 


The  Rambler. 


noticed  that  his  fast  glazing  eyes  turned  oftenest  in  a  particular  di- 
rection, and  it  was  along  that  line  of  view  that  the  most  persistent 
effort  was  niadj;  and  of  one  of  those  midnight  searches  a  record  is 
left  by  one  of  the  participators,  which  is  given  as  nearly  as  possible 
in  his  own  language. 

The  Treasure-Seeker's  Narrative. 

Cn  a  bright  raoonliglit  night,  in  company  with  three  other  men,  I 
left  the  village  of  Mallorytown  and  proceeded  to  a  spot  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  old  La  Rue  mill  near  the  upper  dam.  We  were  pro- 
vided with  a  divining  rod  of  witcli-hazel,  and  a  goodly  supply  of 
picks  and  shovels,  and  in  fact  everything  that  was  necessary  to  the 
prosecution  of  an  enterprise  of  that  cliaracter.  We  were  in  the  best 
of  spirits,  and  as  it  was  a  charming  night,  every  way  suitable  for  a 
successful  issue  to  such  an  enterprise,  we  determined,  if  possible,  to 
unearth  Billy's  treasures,  or  at  all  events  to  probe  the  secret  to  the 
very  bottom. 

Our  guide  was  an  elderly  gentleman  who  claimed  to  be  an  expert 
in  the  matter  of  uneai'thing  buried  treasures,  and  he  had  carefully 
instructed  in  every  particular  relating  to  etiquette  to  be  observed  on 
like  delicate  adventures.  One  imperative  command,  I  remember 
well,  and  that  was,  that  from  the  moment  the  divining  rod  began  to 
indicate  the  sought  for  spot,  not  a  word  should  be  spoken,  happen 
what  might.  We  proceeded  first  to  the  house  and  then  to  the  ceme- 
tery, at  which  point  we  proposed  to  begin  our  operations.  It  was  a 
night  of  beauty.  The  moon  shone  clear  and  bright  through  the 
pines  on  the  overhanging  cliff,  and  yet  a  feeling  something  like  awe 
crept  over  us.  Suddenly  our  leader  paused  and  presented  his  wand. 
Slowly  the  witch-hazel  turned  toward  its  mother  earth.  Moving  a 
few  paces  to  the  left,  our  leader  re-adjusted  the  wand,  and  again  it 
drooped  earthward.  Again  and  again  was  the  mysterious  divining 
roil  tested,  and  always  with  the  same  result.  That  we  had  solved 
the  secret,  and  were  about  to  become  the  happy  possessors  of  the 
long  buried  gold,  there  was  no  manner  of  doubt. 

Striking  a  circle  of  about  twelve  feet  radius,  we  began  to  dig,  and 
so  intent  were  we  upon  the  welcome  task  that  I  took  no  note  of  the 
passing  time.  Whether  we  dug  one  hour  or  six,  I  cannot  tell. 
Gradually  che  sky  became  overcast  and  one  by  one  the  stars  dis- 
appeared. The  moon  sank  from  sight  beneath  the  horizon,  while 
the  wind,  as  it  rose  in  gusts  and  fell  again  into  a  gentle  breeze,  sighed 


The  Rambler. 


59 


a  mournful  requiem  among  the  swaying  pines.  It  grew  weird  and 
gloomy,  and  like  a  pall  darkness  came  down  upon  us  as  we  dug, 
transforming  us  into  spectres  in  each  other's  eyes.  But  we  labored 
on  and  not  a  word  was  spoken. 

Next  can^  a  blast  of  icy  coldness  which  chilled  the  very  marrow 
in  our  bone..,  though  from  our  severe  exertion  we  were  bathed  in 
perspiration.  In  the  distance  we  heard  a  tramping,  as  of  many  feet. 
It  seemed  as  though  the  guardian  spirit  of  Billy  La  Rue's  treasure 
was  marshalling  a  force  to  destroy  the  desecrators  of  the  last  resting 
placjof  the  dead. 

But  we  were  nearing  the  completion  of  our  labors.  Our  excava- 
tion was  cone-like  in  form,  the  deepest  part  being  in  the  center 
Suddenly  a  pick  struck  a  metallic  substance  and  the  sound  rang  out 
clear  and  distinct  on  the  night  air.  A  few  shovelfuls  of  earth  more 
taken  off  and  we  felt  tlie  object  with  our  hands  ;  because  of  its  ring- 
ing sound  when  struck  I  will  always  believe  it  was  metal.  We  re- 
doubled our  exertions  and  rapidly  removed  tlu)  earth  from  one  side 
and  thrust  down  a  crowbar.  The  coveted  treasure  was  our  own. 
With  our  united  strength  we  slowly  raised  the  iron  covering,  when 
in  an  instant  we  were  surrounded  by  creatures  innumerable,  crowd- 
ing up  to  the  very  edge  of  our  excavation.  In  the  darkness  their 
forms  were  indistinct,  but  to  judge  from  the  noise  of  their  tramping 
there  must  have  been  thousands  of  them.  They  reminded  me  of  a 
vast  drove  of  black  cattle.  A  great  fear  which  I  cannot  describe 
came  upon  us,  and  witli  one  impulse  we  dropped  the  crowbar  and 
ran  for  life.  Coming  out  of  the  ravine  near  the  new  mill,  we  paused. 
The  moon  was  sailing  majestically  through  a  clear  sky,  though  to 
our  belief  it  had  a  short  time  before  gone  down  in  gloom.  After  a 
brief  consultation,  we  came  to  the  conclusion  that  we  were  victims 
of  imagination.  We  returned  to  our  work.  We  found  our  tools 
and  garments,  but  not  a  sign  of  any  metallic  covering  nor  even  a 
flat  stone  at  the  bottom  of  our  excavation.  Our  leader  sorrowfully 
shook  liis  head,  and  declared  that  the  "treasure  had  moved,"  and  so 
we  departed  for  Mallorytown,  determined  to  let  the  treasures  of  Billy 
La  Rue  rest  forevermore. 


Note. — The  above  story,  or  the  substance  of  it,  was  found  by  the 
author  of  this  book  in  an  old  pamphlet,  in  which  the  name  of  its 
writer  does  not  appear,  else  due  credit  would  have  been  given  It  is 
inserted  mainly  because  its  location  is  among  the  Thousand  Islands. 


60 


The  Rambler. 


A  Practical  Experiment. 

By  H.  Walter  Webb. 

On  September  14,  1891,  a  train,  consisting  of  a  locomotive  and 
three  large  private  cars,  made  a  run  over  the  New  York  Central  & 
Hudson  River  Railroad  from  New  York  to  Buffalo,  on  a  schedule  the 
most  extraordinary  on  record,  and  vvhicli  is  destined  to  exert  an 
important  influence  on  railroad  travel  during  the  next  few  years. 

The  engine  was  of  a  new  class,  especially  designed  for  fast  passen- 
ger service  by  Mr.  William  Buchanan,  the  Superintendent  of  Motive 
Power  of  the  road,  and  built  by  the  Schenectady  Locomotive 
Works,  it  s  total  weight  in  working  order  being  100  tons.  The  aggre- 
gate weight  of  the  cars  when  empty  was  over  130  tons. 

The  journey  from  New  York  to  East  Buffalo,  a  distance  of  436.38 
miles,  was  made  in  439.45  minutes.  Allowing  for  time  lost  in 
changing  engines  at  Albany  and  Syracuse,  and  for  cooling  a  hot 
journal  at  Fairport,  the  run  of  436.32  miles  was  made  in  426  minutes, 
or  at  the  rate  of  61.44  miles  per  hour. 

Previous  to  this  run  there  were  scores  of  records  of  fast  time  made 
bv  pjissenger  trains,  sjiecial  and  regular,  both  in  this  country  and  in 
England.  Records  of  fast  runs  of  10,  15  or  20  miles  were  exceedingly 
plentiful,  but  there  were  few  records  of  long-distance  runs  that  had 
attracted  any  special  attention.  The  most  remarkable  on  record, 
and  the  ones  that  until  last  September  were  unequalled  in  railroad 
history,  were  those  made  between  London  and  Edinburgh,  in  the 
summer  of  1888,  when  the  "race  to  Edinburgh"  was  in  progress 
between  the  London  &  Northwestern  and  the  Great  Northern 
Railways  of  England.  The  distance  over  the  former  is  400  miles, 
and  the  run  was  made  daily  on  a  schedule  calling  for  a  speed  of  53| 
miles  per  hour.  On  the  Great  Northern  the  distarce  is  393  miles, 
and  tlie  schedule  in  this  case  called  for  a  speed  of  54  miles  per  hour. 

On  August  13,  1888,  the  Northwestern  train  covered  the  distance 
of  400  miles  in  427  minutes,  or  at  a  rate  of  56|  miles  per  hour,  and  on 
August  3lst  the  Great  Northern  train  made  the  run  of  393  miles  in  412 
minutes,  or  at  the  rate  of  57^  miles  per  hour.  These  individual  run.s 
were  both  remarkable,  but  the  daily  running  of  the  trains  on  their 
published  schedules  were  regarded  by  railroad  men  as  still  more 
extraordinary,  and  at  that  time  there  were  no  schedule  trains  in 
this  country  that  approached  them  in  point  of  speed. 

Three  years  previous   to  these   English   records  a  special   train 


The  Ramuler. 


61 


weighing  64  ions  made  a  run  on  the  West  Shore  Road  from  Buffalo 
to  Weehawken  in  9  hours  and  23  minutes.  In  the  pubHshed 
accounts  different  allowances  for  stops  were  made,  making  the 
average  rate  per  mile  /ary  fi'om  51  to  54  miles  per  hour  :  either  rate, 
however,  making  it  the  best  long-distance  run  on  record  in  the 
United  States,  until  the  run  from  New  York  to  Buffalo,  over  the  New 
York  Central  &  Hudson  River  Railroad,  described  in  the  beginning 
of  this  article. 

That  remarkable  run  eclipsed  and  left  far  behind  all  records  for 
long-distance  runs  formerly  made  in  this  country  or  England.  And 
to  fully  appreciate  the  importance  of  what  was  demonstrated  by  it, 
we  must  remember  tliat  within  six  weeks  after  it  was  made  a  pas- 
senger train  was  running  between  tliose  cities  on  a  schedule  two 
hours  shorter  tlian  had  at  any  time  previously  been  made  by  the 
fastest  limited  or  mail  train,  and  the  air  is  even  now  full  of  rumors 
of  shorter  time  to  be  made  on  important  lines  between  great  cities 
during  the  coming  spring  and  summer,  so  that  it  is  not  at  all  improb- 
able, in  view  of  the  power  now  to  be  obtained  and  the  public 
demand  for  faster  service,  that  in  the  near  futui'c  we  shall  see  trains 
from  New  York  to  Buffalo  in  7^  hours,  from  New  York  to  Boston  in 
less  than  4  hours,  and  from  New  York  to  Washington  in  the  sanie 
time. 

But  to  railroad  men  and  to  those  familiar  with  the  characteristics 
of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad,  between  New  York  and  Buffalo, 
the  record  of  the  trip  referred  to  was  far  more  significant  than  was 
indicated  by  the  m  re  statement  that  the  run  had  been  at  a  speed 
averaging  61.44  rnile^  per  hour. 

They  appreciated  the  fact  tliat  the  journey  out  of  the  Grand  Cen- 
tral Depot,  through  the  Fourth  avenue  tunnel,  over  the  Harlem 
drawbridge,  following  the  winding  (curves  along  the  Harlem  river  to 
Spuyten  Duyvil,  along  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  through  Yonkers, 
Peekskill,  and  Poughkeepsie,  rounding  the  curves  of  the  Highlands, 
and  taking  water  twice  from  tanks  between  the  tracks,  meant  fre- 
quent reductions  of  8}»eod  in  order  to  make  the  run  in  comfort  and 
ease  ;  and  from  Albany,  west,  the  long  and  heavy  grade  over  the 
hill,  the  tlu'iving  and  prosperous  towns  of  the  Mohawk  valley,  the 
slow  tedious  run  through  the  streets  of  Syracuse,  the  viaduct  at 
Rochester,  and  the  11-mile  grade  at  Batavia,  all  furnished  reminders 
that  the  train  must  have  at  times  attained  a  high  degree  of  speed  to 
liave  made  the  average  mile  at  a  rate  of  over  60  miles  an  hour. 


62 


The  Rambler. 


A  careful  schedule  of  the  running  time  of  each  mile  was  kept,  an 
analysis  of  which  shows  the  following  : 

Four  hundred  and  thirty-six  miles  were  run  in  426  minutes. 

One  hundred  and  thirty  miles  were  run  at  a  rate  of  less  than  sixty 
miles  per  hour. 

One  hundred  and  eighteen  miles  were  run  at  a  rate  varying  from 
60  to  65  miles  per  hour. 

One  hundred  and  fifty-one  miles  were  run  at  a  rate  varying  fiom 
sixty-five  to  seventy  miles  per  hour. 

TJiirty  seven  miles  were  run  at  a  rate  varying  from  seventy  to 
seventy-eight  miles  per  iiour. 

That  the  speed  of  passenger  trains  in  this  country  is  destined  to 
rapidly  increase  in  the  near  future  seems  certain.  There  is  nothing 
in  railroading  that  renders  such  large  and  quick  returns  to  the  man- 
agement as  catering  to  the  wants  and  desires  of  the  traveling  public. 
Nothing  so  fully  exemplifies  this  as  the  immense  change  that  has 
taken  place  in  the  past  five  years  in  the  equipment  of  through 
express  trains  from  the  seaboard  to  the  West  and  Soutliwest. 

The  luxury  and  comfort  that  can  to-day  be  obtained  on  one  of  the 
many  limited  trains  passing  over  any  of  the  great  trunk  lines,  is  in 
strong  contrast  to  what  was  furnished  five  or  six  years  ago,  and  it 
would  seem  that  there  was  not  nnich  room  for  further  improvement 
in  tliat  direction.  What  the  public  are  now  seeking,  and  what  will 
certainly  be  furnished,  is  fast  time  ;  and  that  this  is  appreciated  by 
railroad  managers  is  well  evidenced  by  the  large  sums  that  are  now 
being  spent  to  perfect  the  roadways  of  the  more  important  lines. 

One  word,  in  closing,  in  regard  to  the  alleged  danger  of  the  fast 
train.  It  is  most  emphaticall}'  untrue  that  it  is  more  dangerous 
than  other  trains.  Those  familiar  with  the  subject  will  agree  that 
the  very  reverse  is  the  case.  As  an  eminent  English  authority 
writes,  'i  With  picked  engineers,  trainmen,  and  firemen,  with  the 
best  and  newest  rolling  stock  and  the  most  perfect  engines  the  com- 
pany possesses,  with  every  signalman  and  flagman  all  down  the  line 
on  the  qui  vive,  it  is  difficult  to  see  where  there  comes  in  any  special 
source  of  danger.'*  And  in  addition  to  this,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  fast  trains  such  as  are  now  being  run  on  many  roads  in  this 
country  would  be  simply  impossible  without  the  vigorous  discipline, 
the  constant  energy,  the  keenest  exactitude,  and  the  care  and  atten- 
tion to  the  details  of  the  service  that  is  the  surest  and  most  effective 
guard  against  accidents. 


The  RaxMbler. 


6'd 


River  aud  Pot-Holes  ou  a   Mouutaiu  near  Thoiisaud 

Island  Park. 

At  the  southern  end  of  Wellsley  Island,  two  miles  west  of  Thou- 
sand Island  Park  on  the  St.  Lawrence  river,  two  pot-holes  are  found 
just  at  the  brow  of  tlie  precipice,  some  30  feet  above  the  water  of  tlie 
river,  one  immediately  above  the  other;  tlie  smaller  and  lower  one 
is  six  or  more  feet  deep  and  abo'it  two  feet  across;  the  upper  and 
larger  one  over  as  much  again  in  depth  and  near  four  feet  across. 
The  rock  in  which  they  are  worn  is  called  *'  Granitoid  Gneiss,"  which 
comes  to  the  surface  just  above  Thousand  Island  Park,  the  park 
being  underlaid  by  the  lowest  member  of  the  Potsdam  sandstone. 
Between  the  park  and  the  upper  end  of  the  island,  and  before  the 
Potsdam  was  deposited,  there  was  a  rupture  of  the  gneiss,  an  uplift 
on  the  side  of  the  island  and  a  downthrow  on  the  river  side.  The 
crest  of  the  uplift  is  a  long  ridge  called  "  the  Palisades, "  with  a  sharp 
descent  upon  the  land  side  and  a  precipice  along  the  river  side;  the 
height  of  the  crest  is  quite  uniform,  with  a  gradually-descending 
slope  towards  the  southerly  end  of  the  island.  The  comb  of  the 
crest  is  about  100  feet  above  the  water,  and  lies  in  nearly  a  north 
and  south  direction,  a  naked  I'ock  without  vegetation. 

Now  we  mur^  nause  in  wonder  and  astonishment  here,  for  we  have 
come  upon  a  dilemma.  It  is  utterly  impossible  to  account  for  tliese 
pot-holes  in  the  position  where  we  find  them,  80  feet  above  the  water 
of  the  river  and  upon  a  steep  declivity  where  water  is  never  seen 
except  in  the  form  of  rain  from  heaven.  Pot  holes  aio  always  foimd 
in  the  currents  of  rapid  streams,  made  by  boulders  turned  round 
and  round  in  some  cavity  of  the  rock.  The  problem  cannot  be 
solved  by  any  causes  now  in  action;  the  phenomena  is  inexplicable. 
We  must  go  backwards  perhaps  10,000  years,  no  one  knows  exactly 
how  long,  to  find  the  causes  and  conditions  to  account  for  these  pot- 
holes in  the  position  where  they  are  found.  We  will  select  the 
Glacial  period  or  ice  age  of  the  world,  and  see  if  we  cannot  find 
an  explanation,  while  the  whole  of  Canada  and  all  the  north-eastern 
portion  of  the  United  States  were  covered  and  encased  in  ice  thou- 
sands of  feet  thick  in  places.  Canada  was  then  some  200  feet  above 
its  present  level.  The  St.  Lawrence  had  been  turned  back  upon 
itself  by  the  ice  dam,  and  had  to  find  other  outlets  westward  in  the 
Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers.  The  length  of  the  Glacial  period  no 
one  knows;  it  may  have  been  10,000  years,  it  may  have  been  more; 
it  could  hardly  have  been  less.     Now,  if  we  select  a  point  of  time 


64 


The  Rambler. 


I  ■ 


towards  the  closing  scenes  of  the  Glacial  era,  when  the  ice  cap  had 
melted  down  to  the  crest  of  the  Palisades,  we  may  find  the  condi- 
tions under  which  the  pot-holes  are  worn  in  the  hard  rock.  For  as 
soon  as  the  crest  rose  above  tlie  surrounding  ice  the  rock  would  be- 
come warmed  by  the  rays  of  the  sun,  and  the  ice  would  be  melted 
much  faster  all  along  the  sides  of  the  ridge  tlian  away  from  it,  and 
the  water  being  held  and  turned  back  along  tlie  sides  of  the  ridge  by 
its  ice  shores,  a  current  or  brook  and  then  a  short  river  down  along 
tlie  slopes  of  the  ridge  would  necessarilj'  be  formed,  and  the  rapid 
descent  towards  the  end  of  the  island  would  represent  exactly  the 
conditions  required  to  wear  the  pot  holes  in  the  rock  found  there 
now.  If  the  trend  of  the  Palisades  had  been  from  east  to  west  there 
Mould  have  been  no  pot-holes,  for  the  crest  would  have  been  eroded 
to  the  base  level;  but,  lying  as  it  does  in  the  same  direction  as  the 
trend  of  the  glaciers,  the  resistance  of  tlie  ridge  split  the  glacier  and 
neutralized  its  power  of  erosion  along  the  summit  of  the  Palisades. 
The  depth  of  the  pot-holes  evidences  the  long  continuance  of  the 
glacial  activity.  During  the  winters  the  river  would  become  frozen 
and  the  ice  accumulate,  to  be  thawed  again  in  vhe  spring;  the  pro- 
cesses repeating  themselves  year  after  year,  century  after  century. 
We  look  upon  the  scenery  here  now  as  imposing,  but  if  we  could 
have  seen  it  during  the  Glacial  era  there  would  have  been  glimpses 
of  the  sublime  of  which  we  have  now  but  the  faintest  conception. 
In  the  minds  of  those  who  have  not  studied  glacial  phenomena 
there  might  arise  objections  as  to  the  ice  climbing  the  summit  of  the 
Palisades,  but  there  was  no  such  thing  as  damming  its  energy  or  stay- 
ing the  force  of  the  general  southerly  trend  of  the  ice  sheet.  If  a 
mountain  was  interposed  as  an  obstacle,  the  ice  piled  up  behind  it 
initil  its  summit  was  eroded  and  enveloped,  and  then  the  flow  went 
onward  with  irresistible  energy. 

Visitors  to  the  Thousand  Islands  seem  to  be  neglecting  their  oppor- 
tunities; the  pathway  from  the  shore  leading  up  to  the  pot-holes  is 
little  worn.  And  one  object  of  my  article  is  to  call  attention  to  this, 
one  of  the  greatest  attractions  of  this  whole  section,  for  places  where 
rivers  have  run  on  mountain  tops  are  but  seldom  found.  The  boat- 
men all  know  the  way,  and  Eel  bay,  where  the  pot-holes  are  seen, 
certainly  presents  scenery  and  attractions  of  its  own  aside  from 
this,  its  greatest  and  most  unique  wonder. 

D.  S.  MARVIN, 

Otologist,  Secreiary  Jefferson  County  Historical  Society. 


SIGN  BOOK  CARD 

AND  LEAVE  AT 

CHARGING   DESK 

IF   SOOK   IS  TO   BE   USED 

OUT  OF  THE 

LIBRARY  BUILDING 


Jfi»*»'>  'i-T*' 


